Rozen Maiden: Schwarze Feder des Schicksals
by the.Merines
Summary: [ Rozen Maiden ] As Suigintou considers her method of attack to provoke Shinku into starting the Alice Game, a human suddenly and unexpectedly catches her attention. Takes place before episode 8 of season 1, AU from there. ON HOLD DESU
1. A Break in the Determinism

Rozen Maiden: Schwarze Feder des Schicksals  
typed by the.Merines  
started: 07.18.06 21:17  
finished: 07.20.06 09:32  
published: 07.20.06  
disclaimed: Rozen Maiden, its scenario and characters belong to Peach-Pit, not me. Oh no.  
Author's note: As per usual I feel the need to explain myself. Knowledge of Rozen Maiden (not necessarily Traümend) is highly recommended (read: necessary). If you haven't seen/heard of it, I implore you to find it. Still unlicensed, so dl is OK. This fic is an alternate universe beginning before episode 9-ish. In other words, before Suigintou challenges Shinku. The paragraph which is italicized is from the Wikipedia.

_First Thorn_: A Break in the Determinism

In the dead of night, a young man sat at his desk. He drummed his pencil against the fake wood of the desktop, staring up at the full moon through his small loft's only window. This was his first night off work in ten days. He had recently moved to third shift after the end of his senior year of high school, and it had been hard on him. His spirit felt crushed, his body more worn than should have been possible. However, this was the price he was willing to accept for being independent.

The only other furniture in the single room apartment was his bed and a refrigerator. He had moved out of his parent's house after getting in a rather ugly argument with his parents over his grades. "Sure I could have done better, but they were so cheap in sending me to a lower-class high school… It's no wonder I didn't feel challenged."

"_We may regard the present state of the universe as the effect of its past and the cause of its future. An intellect which at a certain moment would know all forces that set nature in motion, and all positions of all items of which nature is composed; if this intellect were also vast enough to submit these data to analysis, it would embrace in a single formula the movements of the greatest bodies of the universe and those of the tiniest atom; for such an intellect nothing would be uncertain and the future just like the past would be present before its eyes_."

Tsugumi Ohba sighed and set down his pencil. "Even though this is basically a resumé, the universities all expect something grandiose. Because high school was so boring and I scored poorly on the initial entrance exams, I'm going to have to overextend myself for the rest of my career. Laplace's demon… In Laplace's mind it was really a Man, not a demon. Will humanity ever progress so far? While it is possible that all hard data could be computed in a single instant someday, who can be sure of inconsistent factors such as a human's free will?

"And if something exists somewhere between the practical and the theoretical, isn't it possible that the laws of the universe could be affected? Could it be possible to prove that free will could, in fact, be an illusion caused by the infinite number of human behaviors?" The young man nodded in satisfaction as he scribbled down a long set of notes. "If I can B.S. this into a long paper, surely _someone_ at _some_ Dean's office will be interested enough to accept me."

Tsugumi's head fell with a dull thud to his desktop. "How annoying… The chess game which is my life… Even though I can see all the opponent's pieces and know enough rules to survive, the sheer number of moves available makes things so difficult."

Outside the aforementioned single window, the first Rozen doll, Suigintou, tried to calm her restless spirit. The silver-haired miracle of alchemy sat on a light pole in a quiet area of the sleeping city, observing the one human she had found who she deemed interesting. For what reason he seemed interesting, she didn't care to explain. She crossed her arms, then her legs, sighing angrily. That boy seemed to be looking straight at her. Of course he wouldn't be able to see her unless she decided he could. That was one of the advantages of being a miracle of alchemy. The old mystery which had only been solved by a single genius doll-maker, who was so driven and meticulous that he endowed his creations with life itself. "Father," she whispered, sighing in a more wistful way.

For so long she'd been searching… trying to find a way to defeat Shinku. The others would surely fall to her, but with that ruby doll standing in her way… Why? Why was Shinku always just that one level higher, that one bit more powerful? How could she be so lucky every time they encountered each other?

'**_I_**_was the first one. When father first tried to create Alice, when that perfect image was so fresh in his mind, I was the result. Of all the Rozen Maiden, I am the closest to being Alice in my natural state. But of course…'_ She unconsciously reached back and felt the area of her back around her black wings. '_Because of these things, I am flawed. I must become Alice to overcome such a thing. Father was the one who cursed me with such a great, disfiguring power. Not only must I meet father, but I have so many questions to ask… Will Alice remember feeling such unpleasant things? Of course not; when I am that embodiment of father's obsession, such worries will be a thing of the past.'_

In any case, Shinku would have to be dealt with. One way or another, she **and** her medium would pay. They would both be turned into junk.

The young man abruptly rushed to his window. Suigintou's eyes widened slightly as the realization slowly dawned on her… He could _see_ her. The how and why were unexplainable. The doll took her time standing, balancing herself on top of the pole. Her worry was confirmed as his eyes followed her movements. She had to take care of this quickly.

The first Rozen Maiden spread her wings and took to the sky, rushing the young man's position. Tsugumi didn't even have time to react before her body slammed into his, knocking him to the floor and across his apartment. Suigintou took a bit of satisfaction when he didn't get up for several long moments. '_I can finally rid myself of the annoying feeling I've been feeling lately. How can I expect to beat that Shinku when I can't concentrate on battle? It's no wonder I lost even in my own n-Field… This distraction and her new medium… Anyone would face such setbacks.' _The pale-haired doll sat down on the edge of his open window and gazed down at him in contempt.

The young man stared across his room in complete and utter disbelief. Sitting on his windowsill was a beautiful… '_Well,_ _is she a girl who's playing dress-up, or is she just really short? In any case, why is she just sitting there staring at me! How did she jump so far across the sky like that?'_ The female was wearing some kind of extremely elaborate loli-goth costume. It was so frilly and adorned with roses in various places, he really would have classified it as gothic Victorian. Her eyes were what stood out the most to him, though. Something like a pale purple in color, they seemed to lack a certain quality, though he couldn't place his finger on it.

"You there, how old are you?" he asked in all seriousness.

"Age is just a relative term." And thus the two continued staring at each other. Suigintou was beginning to become agitated as the seconds ticked by. Never before had a human been so complacent when she appeared to them. "Disgusting human," she growled under her breath. Suddenly, her wings rushed forward towards Tsugumi, which caught him off guard of course. He thought they were just some accessory strapped onto the girl's back.

'_Guess her eyes and clothes weren't the only strange thing about her,'_ he thought in an eerily nonchalant way. For whatever reason he didn't feel threatened in the least. As Suigintou pushed him up against the wall of his apartment opposite the window, she felt just the slightest bit of surprise. The moonlight shined onto his face, revealing not one ounce of alarm.

"Oh my, you aren't the least bit fearful?" she asked rhetorically. "I'm not ashamed in the least to tell you that I've harmed at least one human in the past. You must be an especially dense human male." The corners of her lips rose in a malicious smile as he winced in pain. However, they fell into a grimace when she saw that he, too, had begun smiling (albeit in a very somewhat goofy way).

"I think I understand now," he groaned as the wall of wings crushed his body against the wall with more pressure than he had ever experienced. Only astronauts, fighter pilots, and Formula One drivers usually experienced such forces.

"You do? Ah, for some reason I doubt you realize the depth of the situation," she stated, followed with gloating laughter. '_At least this will let me blow off some steam before I go and start the Alice Game.'_

"It's ironic," Ohba explained, despite the feeling that he was getting close to becoming unconscious. "I was just writing a paper on things which could not be classified as practical or theoretical. That something can _only_ be defined as magical, thus breaking the known rules of existence. As I pondered over such things-…" He suddenly coughed, a small trickle of blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. Suigintou relieved a minimal amount of force, curious about the boy's words. "I see you aren't without pity… I was just imagining if I could only understand those things which are deemed as magic, when you suddenly appeared on that light pole."

"Remarkable. Perhaps you aren't as dense as you first seemed." Her voice was full of satisfaction. The suspicions she had felt about this human when she began observing him three days ago were finally confirmed. '_I cannot recall the last time I felt an innate connection with any particular human. Even my mediums in the past lacked such a bonding feeling. What a nuisance.'_

"Hey, do you believe in the inevitability of fate?"

Her eyes focused on the boy. She judged that he was probably less than twenty years old, and she knew from her observations over the past three days that he worked at night and slept during the day. His hair was cut close to his head. Suigintou quickly released him, leaving a trail of black wings on the floor is his domicile. The doll held up one hand to her chin and continued evaluating him. He was probably just over 180 centimeters tall, but he was scrawny, and his plain black T-shirt and blue jeans showed that he had little sense for fashion.

Tsugumi stood and brushed himself off once he had regained his breath (and the feeling in his arms), picking one of the dark feathers from his hair. "Amazing," he whispered.

"What?" He looked past the feather towards its origin. She was roughly half his size, taking up most of his window's space, but the shape of her body was a woman's, not a girl's. Her voice, too, was a woman's. How strange.

"You… You're amazing. You are something totally beyond my comprehension. In all my life there had never been anything that I couldn't understand. The things which were unknown to me were easily found out through research. However, I have a feeling that I won't learn a thing about you, no matter how much I search."

"Hmph." He suddenly bowed.

"I'm Ohba. Ohba Tsugumi. Nice to meet you. Please, make my home your own." She crossed her arms and finally folded her wings back. This human certainly wasn't a threat. She raised her chin and made a conscious effort to sneer at him, even though she was feeling very shocked by the kind reception. What kind of person greets the one who just tried to kill them with such hospitality?

"Well, at least you have _some_ manners," she replied as he rose, smiling. "If I correctly recall, isn't Tsugumi a girl's name?" He continued smiling at her, but a small blush appeared on his cheeks.

"You're correct," he admitted with a nervous chuckle. "My parents used to kanji to make my name mean 'heir,' even though they don't really have anything for me to inherit. But it is a girl's name, and I've had to explain the reason for my name more times than I'd like to remember. They only give me problems." Although he gave his answer with a wide grin on his face, it was evident in his voice that he had strong feelings regarding his parents. "You… You must be some kind of higher intelligence?"

"Oh my, you could easily draw that assumption," she stated, not realizing that he was referring to extraterrestrials. "I am the first doll of the Rozen Maiden, Suigintou."

"Suigintou," he repeated thoughtfully. She looked down her nose at him with a mix of disdain and curiosity. "It's beautiful." Her mouth parted ever so slightly in a silent gasp.

"What a rude thing to say to a lady."

"Oh! Uh… My apologies, Suigintou." He noticed that although her general appearance portrayed a great and unwavering, confident power, her eyes in particular looked incredibly weary. "Are you tired?"

"Ignorant human. I don't require such things." She looked away from the young man and closed her eyes. '_How long has it been? How many years have passed by since I was able to trust a human enough to bring my case into a human house? Even though I said I was the first _doll_, I'm not even sure he acknowledged the fact that I'm not human. Perhaps… Maybe it would be rejuvenating to feel at peace once more… even if just for one night.'_

For the first time in as long as she could remember (although her memories were hazy _because_ she hadn't slept in so long), Suigintou summoned her case and gracefully floated down to the floor. Tsugumi watched in amazement as the rose-encrusted box flew through his window by unknown means. He recognized the suspicion in her eyes as she opened it. "Don't worry. I stay awake all night anyway, so I'll be sure no one disturbs your rest," he explained quietly. The doll raised a single eyebrow before stepping into her case and slowly closing it.

'_To have a medium… Maybe that is the key to defeating Shinku and her own servant,_' she wondered as she drifted off to sleep.

"The weight of evidence for an extraordinary claim must be proportioned to its strangeness," Ohba mused to himself. He set aside all his research and notes, pulling out a book. He rarely allowed himself to enjoy works of fiction, but perhaps this one time would be acceptable. "After all, how often does one find something completely outside of common knowledge?"

…

Suigintou sat comfortably inside her dream world, feeling particularly nostalgic. It had been a lifetime since she had been awake at the same time as Shinku. During those years her bitter feelings had simply gotten worse. The doll set down her tea cup and sighed. The Victorian mansion which was her own special world had become quite run-down in her absence. Its windows were all broken, and the distinct odor of dust filled the air.

She sat back in her great black velvet chair. This world could return to its once beautifully dark state, but she would have to resume a somewhat regular sleep schedule. The black of night outside the mansion suddenly broke, beams of moonlight shooting through the clouds. Suigintou realized it was a part of her world which was changing, becoming brighter. '_Is this the light of hope? The hope that I can easily overcome Shinku and her servant… with my own medium? That boy has something innately weird about him.'_

The doll rested her chin on a hand and stared into the mansion's depths. '_But how am I to make a contract with a human who doesn't even realize that I'm a doll? Taking him into a n-Field could prove to be more of a nuisance than an advantage. Shinku… How did you train your medium to be such an immense source of power?'_

…

In her own dream world, which was a much brighter interpretation of a Victorian house, Shinku suddenly looked outside the window next to her table. Something was bothering her, and usually such intuitions were about her sister, Suigintou. '_You've been unusually quiet lately. Are you planning something, Suigintou?'_ With Jade Dream, Lempicka, and Meimei in her possession, she could prove to be an even more dangerous adversary than usual. Would she enter someone's dream and begin causing chaos? Shinku knew that Suigintou's immediate goal would be to provoke her into starting the Alice Game. '_Hina-ichigo, Suiseiseki, and Souseiseki… Even standing together, they cannot defeat Suigintou. No matter how much all the sisters treasure Father and wish to become Alice, Suigintou's ambition is an overwhelming power. She's operated for so long on her own, using her motivation as her source of power._

'_If she did somehow entice a human into becoming her medium… She could become unstoppable. Everyone would be in danger.'_

First Thorn's End.

Afternotes: As you can see, I've used the manga's interpretation of Suigintou's imperfection rather than the anime's. I've never written any fanfiction which takes place outside the Evangelion universe before, so if it seemed strange… please forgive me! Some of you may feel shocked by Suigintou's OOC-ness in 1) singling out and attacking a human, and 2) deciding he could become her medium. I tried to make the story read like the two had some kind of unconscious (and thus far unexplained) connection. Also, the title means "Black Feather of Fate," which is a play on the Japanese belief of the "red string of fate" which binds lovers together. Hope you enjoyed it!

Also, there has been a rumor of a RM OVA being released, during TBS's Anime Fest, on August 19th! Keep your hopes up!


	2. Reluctant Contract

Rozen Maiden: Schwarze Feder des Schicksals  
typed by the.Merines  
started: 07.22.06 11:17  
finished: 07.24.06 14:31  
published: 07.24.06  
disclaimed: Rozen Maiden, its scenario and characters belong to Peach-Pit, not me. Oh no.

_Second Thorn_: Reluctant Contract

As Suigintou rose from her slumber, the sunlight filtering directly through her case as she cracked it open, she realized that the _human_ was still sitting in the exact same position as when she had fallen asleep. She sat up and stretched. It felt odd to seem so refreshed; such a relaxed sensation was also so foreign… "Oh, you're awake?" Suigintou blinked once, twice, before standing.

"Obviously," she stated quietly. The doll turned and looked down at her box. Its white cushioned interior, something she had seen as a mere inconvenience for the longest time, now seemed inviting. She frowned as she noticed her key sitting in a recessed corner.

"It's strange that your clothes didn't get wrinkled at all, and your hair doesn't look like you've slept at all, either," Tsugumi voiced, his full attention still on the book in his hands.

"Such things are unbecoming to a Lady."

"So…" The young man finally set his book down and looked towards Suigintou. "You're something between a doll and a Lady, huh? Last night you said something about Rozen Maiden?"

"Gyokuro."

"Eh?" She sighed angrily and folded her arms.

"Since you are _so_ interested in learning about the Rozen Maiden, I shall explain the situation. However, I prefer tea after I wake up."

"Oh… I don't know if I have any tea of such a high grade… You see, I usually drink coffee," Ohba explained as he began to rummage through his cabinets. "I eat out a lot, so I don't have a lot of food here."

"Tch… You shouldn't be giving me excuses." Suigintou picked up the book which the human had been reading all night. The book was, surprisingly, written in German. It was a book on dolls. Her interest piqued, she opened it to where his bookmark was placed. Her eyes widened slightly as the chapter's title was 'The Mysterious Rozen Maiden.' A quick analysis of the text revealed that it was mostly speculation, but the fact that he had been so resourceful was a bit of a shock to the first Sister.

Much to his relief, Tsugumi had managed to procure an unopened box of gyokuro hidden behind some instant ramen. '_Probably a graduation gift from a relative I've never met,'_ he mused silently. He began preparing the tea without a word, watching as the doll who called herself Suigintou examined the book he'd been reading. '_So now she knows I've been trying to figure out what she really is. Honestly, I didn't expect her to explain anything to me. She seems pretty stubborn… But in any case, this surely is an interesting turn of events. That doll maker, Rozen, must really have been a genius. Using alchemy to bring his creations to life… It's amazing.'_

Once Suigintou had lost interest in the book, she walked over take a look at the strange device in the corner of his room. Judging by the antenna, it must have been some kind of radio… "That's a CD player. I usually listen to music in the morning, you see," Ohba explained from the kitchen. She didn't respond, but within seconds the calm notes of Bach's 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desire' filled his apartment. "You figured that out rather quickly."

"You must know, intelligence is an important quality… Your taste in music is acceptable." Tsugumi began looking through his cabinets once more, eventually finding a miniature cup and saucer that had been another gift from a distant relative. He filled the cup with tea, and then filled his own.

He jumped just a bit when he turned and found Suigintou standing directly in front of him. "Oh! Yes?" She looked up at him with her purple eyes squarely focused on his face. For several long moments the two stared at each other, the doll finally turning away.

"It's nothing. You just remind me of someone," was her quiet response. "This room needs a table."

"You think so?" he asked with a sheepish chuckle. "I never saw the need for one, but I suppose if we're to have tea every morning, one will become necessary. Here." He held the small cup and saucer over her shoulder. She looked at it for a bit before gently taking it from his hand. She took a preliminary sip to judge the taste, expecting to be disgusted by the human's poor skills (she assumed). "Surprised?"

"It's… delicious…" she whispered, her voice wavering.

"I used to prepare all kinds of tea for my grandparents all the time, so I'm not bad at preparing it," Ohba explained nonchalantly. "I haven't had any tea since they died. Please." He motioned for her to take a seat at his desk chair, since it was the only chair he owned. She rose by some unexplained means and set herself down, crossing her legs. Tsugumi took a seat on his bed.

"You know I'm one of the Rozen Maiden. We were created by our father. He meant to create the perfect doll, Alice. However, despite his genius, he could not succeed. He then decided to create the Rozen Maiden, in the hopes that one day we would begin the Alice Game."

"Alice Game?"

"Yes. My sisters and I are imbued with Rosa Mystica, which allow us to move and speak. Never before and never since has any doll maker reached such an achievement, other than father. The purpose of the Alice Game is for one Maiden to gather all the Rosa Mystica together, thus becoming Alice. This is father's ultimate wish, and only I am worthy of becoming Alice. I'll turn the others… _All_ of them will be turned into junk." Although she explained it calmly, Tsugumi realized that the Alice Game was a great source of trouble for Suigintou.

"How… does one acquire all the Rosa Mystica?"

"We must fight," was the response. Her tone grew deadly, her eyes narrowed. "The doll who defeats all the others and takes their Rosa Mysticae will become Alice."

"So, theoretically, any of the Rozen Maiden could become Alice?"

"Hmph. The others are all worthless dolls who have forgotten their father's wishes. When I become Alice, I can meet father once again…"

"You met him before?"

"Yes, long ago," she said dreamily. "Father was the first person to wind, the first human I ever saw. I was his first creation, the first with a Rosa Mystica. He allowed me to stay with him until the fifth doll had been awakened, but then he sent us all away. By now, though, I can no longer remember his face… Only the warm feelings he gave me remain."

"That seems cruel. As your father, he should have allowed you to stay with him-" He stopped immediately as a black feather flew past his face.

"**Never** question father's motives! He sent me away so I could return as Alice!"

"Well, it seems like it has been a long time since you were first awakened," Tsugumi stated, perhaps taking his life into his hands. "Why haven't you succeeded already?"

"The Alice Game can only be started when all of the Rozen Maiden are awake in the same time," she explained, regaining her composure with a sip of tea. "That has never happened, yet. I have only met four of my sisters."

"So, there are more than five living dolls on Earth…? Interesting."

"There are seven."

"Ah! And you've never met two, thus…" Suigintou slowly nodded her head.

"Nevertheless, I wish to begin the Alice Game as soon as possible. It is only a matter of time before the final two are awakened."

"How… exactly, does a doll awaken?"

"A human must choose to wind them." She spoke tenderly, gazing deep into her tea instead of at Tsugumi as she had been before. He simply watched as she sat motionless for a long time.

"Is something on your mind?" Her eyes flashed at him for a split-second, but immediately retreated back to her teacup. "You said that you wanted to start the Alice Game now… There must be a reason that you've waited this long."

"Honestly, asking about my private business… All you've been doing is asking questions," Suigintou indignantly stated.

"If you didn't want me to ask, you wouldn't have led me down this path." She slowly looked up at the human. Only father had ever seemed to care about her so genuinely. However, to compare this guy to father was like comparing apples to cattle. The two were nothing alike- not at all. "Wherever you're going, I'm coming with you."

"What's that?" He nodded and let a small grin burst onto his face.

"I'm already positive that you can become Alice. However, there's probably one other doll who is as powerful as you are, and just as determined to become Alice. I think you have her as your rival, and over time you've fought with her many times during your cycles of being awake. But this time… something is different, isn't it?" His words hit very close to home with Suigintou.

"You're impressive, for a human… The sisters… Rozen Maiden…" '_Why am I hesitating like this? I need his power to defeat Shinku once and for all…'_ "The last time I was awakened, I put myself into a situation that caused problems for me. I've been awake this time… Until last night I hadn't experienced a peaceful slumber in 312,650 hours. Usually, Rozen Maiden can only stay awake by drawing power from a Medium…"

"So you've gone all this time without a Medium, huh?"

"Oh my, you really speak what's on your mind," Suigintou huffed.

"No, I speak what's on yours."

"E-eh!"

"Your rival has a powerful Medium this time around, right?" She hesitantly nodded. "Thought so. If you don't mind, I'd like to become your Medium, Suigintou." She tried to keep her face blank as he stood, bowed, then got down on a knee.

"A-ah…" she stuttered, recoiling just a little.

'_I haven't made an earnest Contract with a human… I can't even remember how many hours it's been. What the hell makes this one so different! Why am I feeling so scared?'_

---

April 1848, Paris.

Together in a great Victorian mansion sat two living dolls, Suigintou and Shinku. Their shared Medium, Aurore Le Guen, sat with them at a great wooden table. The trio happily shared their afternoon tea. Her father, a detective, had found a doll of amazing quality in an abandoned church during a criminal investigation. Much to the family's shock, after their daughter had wound the doll up, it miraculously came to life.

"I am Suigintou, first doll of the Rozen Maiden," the silver-haired doll had stated.

Not soon after, another doll's case mysteriously appeared next to Suigintou's. It turned out to be Shinku, Suigintou's younger sister.

"I am Shinku, fifth doll of the Rozen Maiden," the blond doll had stated.

As time passed by, the family realized that the two dolls were quite similar in some ways. Yet, in other ways, they were totally different. Both of them were absolutely convinced that they would, one day, become Alice by defeating the other. Since none of the other dolls were awake at the time, however, it was limited to mere bickering.

The two dolls couldn't only play nice forever, though. Whether through their father's wishes or by natural causes, they did not get along well at all. Conditions took a sharp turn for the worse on that fateful day in April. After the trio had finished their tea, Aurore's father entered the dining room. "Dear, why don't we go shopping together?" Due to a rather difficult case, he hadn't been home much of late. Of course the young girl happily agreed.

"Yes, that would be excellent, father! Can I bring the dolls?"

"You may bring one of them. We wouldn't want our neighbors to think I would spoil you with two elaborately expensive-looking dolls, right?" he responded, not realizing the dilemma he had just created. Shinku and Suigintou glanced towards each other, both of them already finding reasons to complain if the other was chosen.

"Shinku, come on!"

Suigintou reached out to her Medium. Her decision had been so quick, so easily determined… How could that _Shinku_ be her favorite! Too shocked to respond any further, the first Sister let herself be picked up and set into her case. "Be a good girl while we're gone, OK, Suigintou?"

"A-aurore…" she whispered. But the case's lid was closed tight. '_Ah… It's alright with me…She'll choose me next time, right? Right! If she doesn't… If she chooses that child Shinku again, I'll… But her response this time was so quick, as if there was no other choice. Why didn't she even consider me? I'm far superior to Shinku in every way! I'll make sure that Aurore sees Shinku for who she really is!'_

Peeking through her opened case, she found out that the house was empty. Suigintou floated over to the table and took Shinku's prized tea cup and saucer. "Honestly, what kind of Lady leaves her dirty dishes out?" she rhetorically asked. "Next, to the mirror."

The two dolls had just recently discovered the ability to enter n-Fields, which were areas created by the doll's own mind. Without hesitation Suigintou rushed through the mirror and into her n-Field.

…

Hours later, Shinku and her medium returned. A thoroughly content Suigintou was awoken from her 'nap' by Aurore. Unbeknownst to the young girl, the hurt which Suigintou felt hadn't disappeared or even diminished. In fact it had grown into a sort of hatred… She had been betrayed by her medium.

When it was once again time for tea, as Aurore and Shinku enjoyed it far too often (in Suigintou's opinion), the first doll watched with glee as Shinku searched for her beloved teaware. "Suigintou, will you help find my teacup?" that child had asked. The cruel laughter which followed immediately clued Shinku in to what had probably happened. "What have you done?"

"Ah, little me? I was asleep in my case the whole time, although I did remember you left them sitting on the table."

"Suigintou! You were the only one who was here during all this time! It only makes sense… that you stole my cup while we were away. Are you so jealous? It was nothing, just a shopping trip-"

"Shut up!" she yelled. Aurore suddenly rushed in from the next room to find the two dolls staring at each other in anger. "Aurore, what have I done?" Suigintou shouted at her medium. "Am I so disgusting because…" She placed a hand on her lower torso, or rather where it should have been. "You won't take me with you because you think I'm _junk_!"

Aurore held up her hands in defense. "What are you talking about?"

"Suigintou, return my tea cup and saucer! You know they were given to me from father-"

"Enough! Father… Why did he give you so much… when…"

"When he left you incomplete?" Shinku boldly stated. Black feathers suddenly filled the air and stabbed towards Shinku, who deftly used her rose pedals to block anything which came near her. Aurore, on the other hand, cried out in fear as some of the feathers cut into her soft, human body. When Suigintou heard her screams, she abruptly stopped her attack. The damage had been done, though.

…

After that, Suigintou had been banished from the Le Guen house. Her father returned her case to the abandoned church he had discovered it at. Over time, the bond between doll and Medium broke down. Worried over her sister, Shinku decided to venture into Suigintou's n-Field after a few months without contact. It had once been a spectacular mansion similar to the Le Guen's, but now the mansion was dark and falling apart. Windows were broken, walls were cracked, and the sky was darkened by thick clouds.

Shinku found her sister sitting at a tea table, with her special cup in the table's middle. "Suigintou… return father's cup to me. I'll try to convince Aurore to let you return-"

"Ah, you say such nice things, Shinku… Too bad." With that, the silver-haired doll picked up and saucer and cup. She looked at the set for a moment, and then tossed it carelessly to the ground. Shinku gasped as the porcelain hit the ground and shattered. In order to drive home her argument, Suigintou ground the heel of her shoe into the fragments, crushing them even further. "Shinku," she said with disgust, as if the word itself was poison, "this is the end of our niceties. I… I can never forgive you for stealing away that which was mine. This cup, which was given to you from father, is only the first thing I will take. Your Rosa Mystica will me _mine_ and mine alone."

"Suigintou! How dare you!" In the onslaught of feathers which followed, Shinku abandoned her sister's dream, along with any hopes of reconciliation.

---

Due to her extended time without a Medium or the dream-filled slumber which came with it, Suigintou had long forgotten the reason for her hatred of Shinku. But those deep feelings remained and burned on, seeming to grow stronger with every meeting.

The gothic looking doll sighed. "Will you wind? Or not?" Tsugumi ponderously looked at her.

"I will wind," he stated with confidence. She held her left hand up at him, her ring finger extended. He leaned forward, somehow realizing how to seal the Contract. Her billowing white sleeve rolled back, somehow suddenly affected by gravity, revealing the ball joint which was her wrist. Tsugumi paused momentarily, thinking, '_She really is a doll then…_'

He kissed her ring finger, and a bright purple light filled the room. Feeling a burning sensation on his left ring finger, he pulled his head back and examined his hand. A rather ornate-looking ring appeared on his finger, a yellow rose on its center.

Suigintou also examined an identical ring on her hand, suddenly feeling a huge influx of power. It started in her chest and moved outward, filling her body so completely that she felt as though she may explode. "This is… a Medium's power?" she gasped. As the light finally began to die down and the immense power inside her diminished, she smiled up at her Medium. "This power is incredible."

"It's the power of our bond." Most unexpectedly, he leaned forward and hugged the doll.

"A-ah!" As he released her, he placed a hand on her hip, his thumb coming to rest on her stomach.

But he pressed inward, discovering that there was nothing there behind the cloth. As soon as she felt the tightening of the cloth on that part of her body, she punched his cheek as hard as she could. The human was thrown across the room, coming to rest in the kitchen area.

Suigintou felt a dangerous mix of emotions and quickly flew out the room's window before he could recover. Tsugumi rubbed his cheek, which was now throbbing quite a bit. "What the heck was that, so suddenly? Is she… incomplete?" He needed some kind of female point of view to help explain the situation. The only female he knew, though… "Well, I'll just have to hope that she picks up instead of mom or dad."

Ohba found his cell phone and dialed his 'Home.' It rang twice before the answer came. "Kashiwaba residence," the dry voice of a young girl answered.

"Ah, Tomo-nee!"

"Big brother! Is that you?"

"Yea… it is…"

"Where have you been? Mother and father have been worried."

"Sorry. Things got complicated. But that's not why I called. I need to ask you something… Have you ever heard of..."

…

On the other end of the line, Tomoe held the phone close to her ear. As her older brother explained his situation, her jaw dropped. She nearly lost her grip on the phone. '_Big brother… **You've** found a Rosen Maiden? I'll have to call Jun-kun quickly…'_

End of Second Thorn.


	3. Meeting of the Mediums

Rozen Maiden: Schwarze Feder des Schicksals  
typed by the.Merines  
started: 07.28.06 13:24  
finished: 08.03.06 21:00  
published: 08.03.06  
disclaimed: Rozen Maiden, its scenario and characters belong to Peach-Pit, not me. Oh no.

_Third Thorn_: Meeting of the Mediums

"Juuun-kuuun!" The young boy growled angrily as he sat at his desk. Nori's voice sure could be annoying at times… '_Well, _most _of the time.'_

"Don't bother me; I'm busy!" he shouted.

"Jun," Shinku's voice crisply called. "It's rude of you to make a Lady raise her voice." He looked over at the blond doll where she sat on his bed.

"What could possibly be so important that she's yelling?" The door to his room creaked open, garnering the attention of both Jun and Shinku. "Nori, what the h-! Oh, Hina-ichigo?" The most childish Sister slowly peeked her head into his room.

"Jun isn't making scary voices anymore, is he?" she asked, obviously scared.

"What do you want?" Jun deadpanned. The door swung open quickly, revealing Suiseiseki standing next to Hina. In her small hands was the house phone. "Uh! Why are you carrying that?"

"Because, chibi-human, you have a phone call desu!" she huffed.

"Tell whoever it is that I'm busy."

"Grrr… I'm not your secretary! Here!" Suiseiseki threw the receiver with all her might, much to Jun's surprise.

'_What has he done to that poor child already today to make her so upset?'_ Shinku wondered. The phone made a rather ungraceful arc through the air and landed on Jun's lap, rather than hitting his head as Suiseiseki had intended (she released it just a moment too early). Jun heard the tinny voice of a girl on the other end of the line. He grasped the phone and lifted it to his ear, his hand beginning to shake uncontrollably.

"Um… Hello?" he asked, almost silently.

"Jun-kun?" He immediately recognized Tomoe's voice.

"Oh, Kashiwaba, uh… Um, how are you?" he asked awkwardly.

"I'm fine, but that's not why I called." She spoke quickly, making Jun wonder if there was some sort of problem. "Hina-ichigo and Shinku are still there right?"

"Of course. They never leave," he replied in an annoyed tone. "Another ill-mannered doll is here, too."

"Are there any others around?"

"Well, there is the other one… Suigintou, or something… OK…" The conversation immediately grabbed Shinku's attention at that point. Hina-ichigo had returned to coloring, while Suiseiseki tried to figure out what Jun was talking about.

"Jun, with whom are you speaking?" asked Shinku, ignoring the fact that he was trying to concentrate on his conversation. "Jun… Jun!" Just as she was about to jump down and kick his shin, he ended the call with a 'beep.' He looked confused and uneasy. "Jun?"

"Shinku… Are there other dolls besides the three of you? There's that one who dressed in black as well, right?"

"Yes, Suigintou."

"There's also Souseiseki," Suiseiseki spoke up. "But she's still clinging onto that old geezer she calls her master. Honestly, why would anyone want an old man as their Medium desu?" she continued, her voice growing fragile. Shinku noted that there must have been some kind of altercation between the twin sisters, but now wasn't the time to bring it up.

"Would… Are there any dolls without a Medium?" Shinku was beginning to become concerned as he asked these types of questions.

"Well, there is Suiseiseki here," replied the blond doll. Jun frowned and scratched his head.

"But she's always here lately…"

"Is there a point to these questions?" Shinku asked, trying to get to the root of his problem.

"Suigintou doesn't have a medium, right?"

"That child… has killed almost every Medium she has had," Shinku stated with deadly clearness. Jun's eyes widened. Hina-ichigo looked up from her coloring book. "She hates all humans except Father."

"What's wrong na no? Jun! Is something wrong with Tomoe?" Jun shook his head, his brow still furrowed. "Is she coming over?" Hina asked, growing excited as he slowly nodded. "Hurray! Yay, Hina gets to see Tomoe again!" As she cheered Shinku continued staring at Jun.

"Jun. Please stop this. Explain what is going on."

"Well," he sighed. "Tomoe… She said that her estranged older brother just called her. He said… he found some kind of living doll. He specifically called it a Rozen Maiden. Tomoe said that none of her family knew anything about Hina-ichigo, so there is no way he was just making it up." Jun spoke slowly, trying to give the information as clearly as possible.

'_There's no way Suigintou would choose to accept a Medium…'_ Shinku reasoned.

"Shinku… If Suigintou has a master…" Suiseiseki trailed off, her voice quivering.

"No, she would never do such a thing," Shinku stated with complete confidence. "It must be one of the other two Sisters." All three of dolls stopped for a moment and tried to remember about those other two. "I have never met the seventh doll, and I can't remember anything about the other."

"Neither can I desu," admitted Suiseiseki. Hina shrugged, engrossed in coloring a new picture for Tomoe.

"In any case she asked if she could bring him over here so we could all talk… I want you all to stay out of sight while he's here," Jun said, trying to take a strong stance in the situation. "I'll try to gather some information."

"Wa! Tomoe's big brother is so _cool_!" Hina happily exclaimed. "He was always very nice to Tomoe na no. He even brought home _unyuu_ sometimes! Even if he is Suigintou's Medium, maybe he can make her play nice na no!"

"Ah, it must be nice to be such a stupid chibi-chibi," sighed Suigintou.

Shinku said nothing. Her face was as cool as always, but her eyes betrayed an inner concern. "Hey, Shinku," Jun quietly said. "Does that bother you?"

"Hm? It's nothing. When are they arriving?"

"In about an hour."

"Ah. In that case please go and prepare some tea for me. Also, it may be a good idea for you to change out of that sweater you always wear, if you're expecting company. Be sure to prepare tea for your guests as well, and –"

Jun sighed heavily as Shinku continued to give her suggestions. '_Even if he's with that Suigintou doll… It might be nice to have another human who's a Medium to talk with. If he's anything like Tomoe, I shouldn't feel too uneasy around him.'_

---

Suigintou sat in a somewhat dilapidated church which resided in her personal n-Field. Though she didn't notice it, the church was a much more beautiful place than the last time she had visited there. The once broken windows were now wonderful and bright panes of stained glass. The formerly nonexistent doors had been replaced with thick wooden masterpieces of carpentry.

She sat on the altar. Once in a while sunlight would break through the clouds (that had replaced the city's mirror image which had previously floated in the sky) and bring a calm warmth to her body. The fragments of a mirror floated in front of her. Shinku, her Medium, Hina-ichigo, Suiseiseki, Souseiseki, and Suigintou's own Medium were all depicted in real-time. It was merely one of the many powers of the Rosa Mystica.

"My, my, little Shinku… What has you looking so upset?"

The first Sister laughed just a little. Just seeing Shinku's feathers ruffled (no pun intended) was occasion to be happy. Next Suigintou's attention fell on her Medium. She smiled as he walked down the street. His face was cold and uninviting, completely the opposite of when she had been with him. "He certainly is an interesting fellow. It's no wonder Meimei drew me to him. His power is incredible… Easily a match for Shinku's Medium." Her sinister laughter echoed throughout the church's halls.

---

As the buzzer rang at the Sakurada household, a completely clueless Nori went to the door to see who it was. "Jun-kun doesn't usually get packages at this time of day, so I wonder who it could be."

"Nori, wait!" Jun yelled as he rushed the door. He was in such a rush, in fact, that he didn't notice one of his mini-cars in his path. Hina-ichigo had left it there earlier after she was finished coloring on it. Jun's right foot came down directly on top of the mini-car. Even before he could cry out in pain, the muscles in that leg and foot urged him to continue running. He attempted to shift his weight off that foot, but instead ended up falling forward at a rather high rate of speed.

Nori opened the door, revealing Tomoe and a young man, just as Jun planted his face in the doorway.

"Eh?" Tomoe blandly asked as she tried to figure out what had just happened.

"Oh, Jun-kun!" cried his older sister. She reached down to help him up, but he swatted her arms away.

"Knock it off! Geez… Ow…" he groaned.

"Oh my! Tomoe-chan! Please, come in. And, you are?" she asked Tomoe's companion, finally noticing them.

"I'm Tomoe's older brother, Tsugumi." Even though it was _him_ who had just embarrassed himself in front of guests, Jun had to suppress his laughter. Tsugumi was, after all, almost exclusively a girl's name. "Nice to meet you. Sorry for the intrusion…"

"Don't worry about it. Please come in," Jun asked as he stood up, trying to sound friendly. He began making his first impressions of Tomoe's older brother. He was definitely college-aged and tall. His black hair was trimmed down in a buzz cut. He wore a simple pair of blue jeans and a plain black shirt. His eyes were thin and tired, and there was some kind of roughness about him.

But most of all, Jun focused on Tsugumi's left hand. Sure enough, there was a ring identical to his own on the older boy's left ring finger, glowing a soft purple color. '_That's a sure sign that he's made a Contract with a Rozen Maiden… The only real question left is… which one?'_

From the other side of the second-story railing which looked out over the entryway and living room, the three dolls peeked over the edge.

"Ah! It's Tomoe's _aniki!_" Hina said in a muted tone.

"He sure is tall desu… and kinda scary-looking," added Suiseiseki. "Shinku, he's wearing a ring desu."

"You're right. I guess there _is_ another Medium out there now," Shinku responded in an equally quiet tone.

"Oh, it's strange for Mediums to meet, isn't it?"

"Yes. I don't recall it ever happening before."

"T-tomoe…" Hina tried to make a dash and say 'hello' to her former Medium, but Suiseiseki and Shinku grabbed onto her. They shooshed her and tried to suppress her struggling. "Why can't I see Tomoe na no?" pouted Hina-ichigo after she decided to give up.

"For this simple reason: we know nothing about two of the three possible dolls with which he had made a Contract. The one we _do_ know of is Suigintou. We have to keep ourselves hidden, or else his doll will know we are all gathered here," Shinku explained in her usual level-headed way.

"Just shut up and listen desu!"

Meanwhile, downstairs in the Sakurada's living room, Nori brought out tea for the two guests. Shinku's quick draw of breath alerted Suiseiseki. She nodded stiffly at Tsugumi. "What is it, Shinku?" Tomoe and Tsugumi were ushered to the table by Nori. Jun sat opposite of Tomoe's older brother.

"Look at him," she said guardedly, nodding towards the stranger. The two dolls watched as he sat down. He immediately crossed his arms and brought his right foot up to rest on his left knee. He waited patiently, his eyes betraying a frigid intelligence. "The way he moves, how he holds his teacup… Although they are simple behaviors, he behaves just like Suigintou."

"Really?" asked Suiseiseki, somewhat shocked that Shinku would be able to distinguish such things. "Maybe it's just a concidence desu." Shinku shook her head. In her normally calm blue eyes was a sense of anxiety.

"So, Tomoe-chan, what brings you here today?" Nori asked in her normal, happy way.

"To be quite frank," Tsugumi spoke, setting down his teacup, "I think Jun and I have something in common." Jun blinked in confusion.

'_Does he already know? I made sure to keep my left hand hidden… If he heard those loud dolls, I'll…' _Jun pondered.

"Thinking back, Tomo-nee also shared this trait with us, but for some reason does not anymore." Now Jun knew that this strange guy had deduced that he was also a Medium. Tsugumi's eyes focused on Jun. The similarity between his placid yet fierce gaze and the gaze of Suigintou was obvious, even to Jun. A chill crawled up Jun's back as the older boy continued to talk. "Back then I thought she had a secret boyfriend, but now I realize that it was a different kind of relationship. Sakurada-san-"

"Call me Jun," he instructed, trying to put on a poker face.

"Jun-kun… Where is _your_ Rozen Maiden?" Everyone in the Sakurada household shared a moment of sudden astonishment. "The moment the door opened and you fell, your ring was exposed. You've hidden it since then. It was obvious if one was only a little observant."

"Wow… Tomoe's _aniki_ sounds like Kun-kun!" Hina-ichigo exclaimed. Her companions quickly covered her mouth, but the damage had been done. Tsugumi pretended not to notice, even though Jun's poker face was broken for just a split-second.

"In any case," Tsugumi continued, "I'm sure you realize that there are seven Rozen Maiden. I can safely assume that the doll which was previously entrusted to my younger sister is a different doll from yours Jun, and that my doll is another. That accounts for three of seven."

"I guess I don't understand what you're saying," Jun reluctantly admitted, letting his left hand be seen. Tsugumi noted that his ring was faintly glowing red. "We're both Mediums. It would be easier for us both if we could pool our information. If we could work together…" His voice trailed off as Tsugumi raised a hand.

"I'm talking about the Alice Game. Surely you know what it is?" His voice was so cold, so full of masked disdain… Jun's brow furrowed. Tsugumi's face brightened just a bit. "Don't be nervous. It can't be started until all seven dolls are awake, right? There's no guarantee that it will happen in our lifetimes. I just wanted you to know that you aren't dealing with some fool. Our dolls draw upon our life force in order to fight. _I don't intend to lose_. I'm most intrigued by this girl… 'Alice,' and I wish to meet the man they call Father. I just wanted to declare my intentions. Hopefully, you don't feel any malice towards me for any of our future actions."

---

In her n-Field, Suigintou laughed with surprise. She watched as her Medium had made his intentions crystal clear to Shinku's dim-witted Medium. He then left alone, looking rather satisfied with himself. "What a strange human," she mused. The look on Shinku's face when Tsugumi spoke about the Alice Game was absolutely priceless.

Behind her, at the entrance to the church, a slit in the n-Field suddenly tore open. A tall, thin human body dressed in a tuxedo stepped through. Rather than a human head, though, the apparition had the head of a rabbit. The slit sealed itself up after he had stepped fully through. He took a single step forward. The resonance of his hard heel hitting the wood floor was enough to alert Suigintou. She quickly jumped down from the altar, spinning around in mid-air to face the noise.

"Who's there?" she asked. The apparition was hidden in the shadows, watching her face grow angry. "Show yourself!" Light suddenly shown on the source of the noise, revealing someone Suigintou hadn't seen in a long, long time. "Laplace's Demon? What are you doing here!" The rabbit bowed to her.

"It isn't possible for two sides of the same coin to be shown at once. Medium… Such an interesting toy. Perhaps you shouldn't react so violently to him. Where you once would slit a throat, now a wall of feathers will appeal."

"What!" She readied her wings to attack, but he disappeared back into the darkness. "Just what is he trying to tell me?" The very nature of Laplace's Demon was an all-knowing being. He knew every outcome to every situation before it even happened. "If that bunny tries to manipulate me… He'll be sadly mistaken!"

In one of the shards of mirror that Suigintou used to monitor the real world, a doll dressed totally in white appeared for just a split-second. If Suigintou had noticed it, maybe even she would have felt scared by the maniacal grin that white doll wore.

---

Even though Detective Kun-kun was playing on the TV, none of the Sakurada household's occupants were watching. Nori prepared dinner in a failing attempt to ease her mind. Jun and the dolls were up in his room. Everyone had been eerily silent since that time. Tomoe had profusely apologized for her brother's rude words and left soon afterwards. As usual, Suiseiseki was the first to break the long quiet.

"Argh! I can't stand it anymore desu!" she yelled as she threw her hands up in the air. "That guy is Suigintou's Medium, isn't he? That means… she'll be even more powerful than before! Isn't that a really big problem for us desu? What should we do? Shinku!" Rather than immediately presenting a solution as Suiseiseki expected, Shinku didn't say a word. She remained still on Jun's bed, her eyes closed and arms crossed.

"Shinku!" exclaimed Hina-ichigo. "Suiseiseki and Hina are worried na no! If Suigintou had a Medium, does that mean she will… Uhm, well…" The doll trailed off, unsure of how to express what she was feeling. Shinku released a small sigh and opened her eyes.

"Everyone. We must be constantly on guard from now on. We don't know when Suigintou will choose to take advantage of this situation. Our only hope may be that Medium, in fact."

"Eh? But isn't he the source of the problem?" Jun asked.

"Of course. He will be providing Suigintou with the same kind of power than I receive from you, Jun. However, the way he spoke… He seems to be set on meeting Father, and he doesn't wish for the Alice Game to be started until all of the Rozen Maiden are awakened. That fact may be our only hope for a peaceful time in the coming days," she explained.

"Do you think he'll be able to dissuade Suigintou from pulling more dirty tricks?" Suiseiseki asked warily. "She'll just end up taking all his life force and fighting all of us…"

"Yea, what is she doesn't listen to him? I really don't see her as a doll that would stop just because her Medium said to," Jun added. "Although, I got the same kind of weird vibe from that guy as from Suigintou. Maybe he really can convince her to hold off her attack."

"Jeez, with that scary guy being Suigintou's Medium…" Suiseiseki shuddered at the very thought. She suddenly remembered something… '_Ah, Souseiseki… Why are you puttering around with that old man at a time like this?'_ Shinku noticed the pensive look on Suiseiseki's face.

"Suiseiseki… Are you worried about Souseiseki? Where is she?" she asked, but her sister didn't respond.

"Huh? Souseiseki…?" Jun asked slowly. Shinku nodded.

"Suiseiseki's twin younger sister, Souseiseki. Usually those two are inseparable, however…" She stopped as everyone noticed the tears welling up in Suiseiseki's mismatched eyes. "If that man fails to dissuade Suigintou, Souseiseki may be her first target. You should contact her immediately. If necessary, I will accompany you-"

"No!" The sudden outburst surprised Jun. He'd never seen this side of the doll. "I'll take care of her."

---

The moon was high in the night sky before Suigintou appeared on Tsugumi's windowsill. He'd intentionally left it open when she wasn't home when he arrived. As she expected he was sitting at his computer desk, reading. "Oh? You're still awake?" she asked, looking out at the sky. Chopin's 'Nocturne in G minor' played in the background.

"Right. For some reason I couldn't sleep. I found out a few things today…"

"Such as?" she probed, already knowing his answer.

"I found two other Mediums." The doll suddenly turned her head and met his gaze. Two? "You probably knew about Sakurada Jun, but I also remembered a strange rose ring I saw an old man wearing once when my grandmother's alarm clock broke."

"You said… You're grandparents were dead though, right?" she asked, obviously surprised. He nodded.

"Five years ago. I have a pretty good memory, huh?" he said with a small smile. "I went back there today and confirmed it. He's still wearing that same ring. That means I've confirmed three of the other dolls. I also came to the conclusion that you may need a few things…" He stood and went to the far wall of his room and pulled a sheet off what turned out to be a large antique mirror. He continued smiling as he saw Suigintou's eyes light up. She finally entered the room and floated over to the mirror. The doll placed her small hands on its metal frame, slowly running her hands over its cool exterior. The silver roses and thorns made the mirror seem to appear from a metallic rose garden.

"It's… This will work nicely. Why did you do this? How could you know...?" She hadn't mentioned anything about n-Fields yet, so why had he gone out on his own and purchased such an item?

"I did a study on alchemy as my senior project in high school. When applying the idea to creating living dolls, with their ultimate purpose to fight and one day become Alice… It dawned on me that all this fighting could never be done in a human world. 'Therefore, there must be some kind of portal' I said to myself. I've always felt an affinity for antique mirrors for some reason, so I assumed this would work." Her mouth parted to continue questioning him, but she decided against it.

"Well, in that case… I know the three dolls which are residing at the Sakurada household. Suigintou, Hina-ichigo, and… Shinku," she explained, her eyes narrowing. "The one which stays with the old man is probably Souseiseki. That only leaves two others."

"Then the Alice Game can really begin, right?" Suigintou nodded, a sadistic grin appearing on her face. She looked at her reflection in the mirror, her Medium's reflection behind hers… "That's a little boring. What are you going to do until then?"

"Hahaha… I have a few things ideas." The mirror slowly turned black, ripples seeming to appear in the glass. An image suddenly became clear; a boyish-looking doll was kneeling next to an old woman who appeared to be asleep. "Souseiseki… Maybe we can have some fun," she stated happily. She turned to her Medium, who was wearing the same vicious smile as her.

"What did you have in mind?"

---

In a ward of a local hospital, a permanent patient slept. Her long black hair flowed unhampered over her pillow. The nurse who was taking her recordings of the patient's life signs sighed. This girl… She was an impossible case. Her life would, definitely, be cut short. However, until then, she was kept alive by machine, according to her parents' wishes. What a sad existence it must be…

End of Third Thorn.

Author's Note: _Aniki_ means older brother.


	4. Maestro

Rozen Maiden: Schwarze Feder des Schicksals  
typed by the.Merines  
started: 08.06.06 13:23  
finished: 08.09.06 12:07  
published: 08.08.06  
disclaimed: Rozen Maiden, its scenario and characters belong to Peach-Pit, not me. Oh no.

_Fourth Thorn: _Maestro

A week passed in Ohba Tsugumi's life. Suigintou had made a few short appearances but had remained distant for the most part. He realized that she was probably plotting a way to draw her enemy, Shinku, into a battle. However, he was also hard at work trying to determine the whereabouts of any other Mediums. If the two other dolls were already awake, then the Alice Game that Suigintou had been waiting so long for would finally begin. In the mean time, he had been fired from his job because of truancy; but he didn't care at all. For someone studying the metaphysical world of living dolls, dreams, n-Fields, and a doll maker who lived through the ages… such things just weren't important.

Just as he had with Lego blocks in his childhood and video games in his teens, Tsugumi was beginning to become obsessed. This time, however, he had no input from friends or parents to hold him back. He'd already lost his source of income. Even as he realized that he was missing meals and sleep, he continued his search for traces of Mediums and research of the man named Rozen.

Finally, his human body pushed near its breaking point after four days and nights without slumber, he gave in to the weariness. Suigintou found him asleep at his desk, surrounded by newspapers, printouts, phone books and all other manner of books. She sighed and tried to relax her body. After all, this small apartment was the only place she could call truly safe. The Contract she'd made with this sleeping human had become both a gift and a curse. Surely, having a Medium would greatly improve her chances of beating Shinku and becoming Alice. However, whenever she considered rushing towards putting some scheme into effect, she found herself thinking of this human.

'_To be putting his wishes ahead of my own…'_ she thought as she looked down at the ring on her small finger. '_It's almost too unsightly. He's just insurance against Shinku's Medium. But then…_' She slowly floated over to him from the windowsill. '_He looks so unassuming when he's asleep, just like any human. He's been helpful in many situations already. Intimidating Shinku's dim-witted Medium, finding Souseiseki and her master… He's also been working so hard on finding the other two Rozen Maiden, and he's so interesting in meeting Father…'_

Suigintou reached out and touched his cheek. "You're a good boy, Tsugumi," she whispered. The text of the book he had been reading as he fell asleep jumped out at the doll. She gently moved his hand from the page, revealing a basic blueprint of a doll. He had apparently taken some notes on the page. The first Sister's eyes widened as she read his notes. Circled in the center of the page was the blueprint-doll's torso. A number of equations were comparing the approximate size of the blueprint-doll to Suigintou's approximate size. Off to the side was written:

"Left unfinished? Why, Rozen?"

It was a question she had asked a thousand times. Of course there was never an answer. Rozen… Father would only see Alice. '_But why is he researching this as well? It's embarrassing that he discovered… Although I was initially nervous that he would lose faith in me because of such a thing, it seems quite the opposite. What a strange human he is. He's such a fool.'_ As she watched him sleep, her eyes slowly softened.

As Suigintou was concentrating on her Medium, the mirror behind the pair began to ripple. The doll dressed totally in white appeared once more, her single eye forced wide with what could only be construed as murderous jealousy. "Onee-sama…" the doll slowly whispered in a tone that was void of all emotion. Suigintou immediately whipped her body between the mirror and Tsugumi, unconsciously protecting her master. The safe and easy setting had been shattered in that instant. Although she didn't see whoever had spoken, Suigintou immediately recognize the state of the mirror's surface. Someone had been attempting to come from an n-Field into the room.

"My, my, such an intrusion… and you don't even stay for a chat?" she asked the mirror quietly, hoping for a response. That voice… its dryness, the sense of sharpness and inflection… That voice definitely wasn't one of the dolls which were confirmed to be awake, nor was it the voice of Laplace's Demon. That could only mean one thing: another doll was awake. Suigintou looked cautiously back at her Medium, who was still sleeping soundly. His search for other Mediums would be meaningless… if the remaining dolls didn't have one. "Ah, what a charming turn of events."

---

In an n-Field made up completely of white rose bushes sat the white doll. She sat upon a jutting stone uprising which matched neither the landscape nor the color scheme. The doll looked out over the expansive gardens with a gentle smile on her face, but it was merely a misleading disguise. Inside her burned a heart of sheer madness. The doll's right eye itself was a white rose, and two viney roses held back her flowing white hair. Her white dress was simpler but no less beautiful than that of the other Rozen Maiden. Her knee-high white boots were also something Rozen had used only for her.

To an innocent bystander, this doll may have been mistaken as Alice herself. However, the apparition of a rabbit with a human body which watched over her knew the truth. Laplace's Demon stood silently on the rock behind the doll. Her hair moved with the wind as it blew threw the gardens. Rozen's seventh and final living doll…

Kirakishou.

The motives which had caused Rozen to stop at seven, or to proceed past six, were unknowns. They were undoubtedly necessary, though, in whatever master plan he had created all those years ago. Since that time the seventh doll had been sealed away, awaiting her chosen time. Not long ago had she awoken from her long slumber.

"So, Kirakishou… how is your sister Suigintou?" Laplace's Demon finally asked. The doll looked down at her hand, which began to twitch uncontrollably.

"Onee-sama… Onee-sama is…" The images of Suigintou floating next to that human, touching his face, smiling at him… The skies immediately turned to darkness, and huge thorny vines rose out of the gardens. "That human," she growled as she turned and faced the apparition.

"He is the human who is bound to her by a sacred pact, the Oath of the Rose."

"Medium… I'll kill…"

"Oh my, I'm afraid that's impossible. You know that you do not have a physical body. You only exist here, in the n-Fields," the rabbit explained in unusually clear terms. Kirakishou had a tendency to forget her largest limitation. Her real body had been lost in time. Only Laplace's Demon knew of its resting place, but now wasn't the time for the seventh Doll to be released upon the human world.

That time was closing much more quickly than anyone, Rozen included, had expected. Everything had hinged on that chance encounter. Rushing on her way to implement her unquestionably well-planned ideas, if the First Doll's artificial spirit had been just a bit less attentive, Suigintou would have remained without a Medium for several more months.

Speaking of which… Laplace's Demon bowed before stepping into a cut in the n-Field. Kirakishou was left alone, as usual. She sighed and sat down, her boots dangling over the edge of the precipice. "My beloved Father… Onee-sama… They all ignore me because I am trapped here. Even that Demon… leaves me alone." She drew in a sharp breath, and all the vines she had summoned forth disintegrated into nothingness once more. "Onee-sama, if I eliminate your Medium, you'll have to recognize me. You'll have to love me!"

---

In the long-term care ward of a hospital near the Sakurada residence, Megu lie in wait. She had done so for such a long time, waiting for Death to finally free her from her miserable and pointless existence on Earth. As usual, she completely ignored the nurse when she offered her food; the IV was enough to keep her alive. Anything more would be a burden on someone else…

The room's window glinted in the sunlight, revealing a reflection of Laplace's Demon. He watched as another candidate who may have become Suigintou's Medium clung to life. It was unlikely that she could serve any purpose in this timeline. However, there was always that small chance…

The room's door opened once more, somewhat surprising Megu. The nurses hardly ever bothered to pay her more than one visit every three hours. However, it wasn't a nurse who had opened the door. Laplace's Demon blinked his red eyes. '_What an unpredictable boy,_' he thought with wonder.

"Who are you?" the girl asked. A young man about her age, with very short hair and dressed plainly, slowly approached her bed. "Who are you?" she asked again, obviously becoming annoyed.

"Sorry for the intrusion," he calmly responded. "I don't know if you remember, but we attended primary school together. We were in the same class for three years in a row. I'm Ohba, Ohba Tsugumi." The girl showed no sign that she remembered him at all. He placed a hand behind his head, becoming a little uncomfortable. "We threw a big party on your seventh birthday, remember? Class 3-1… I sat two seats behind you that year."

"It's hard to remember anything except this hospital," she spat. Tsugumi let his hand down and lowered his head a little.

"Sorry… I've been doing a lot of research lately, for school," he partially lied. "I came across one of my old yearbooks… I don't understand why, but I felt an urge to visit you. Even though you never said so, we all knew you had a weak body back then… To be honest I was surprised to find that… well…"

"That I'm still alive, living this unsightly existence?"

"No- that's not what I meant!" he defended. She smiled a bit.

"It's OK. I guess I should be shocked and grateful that anyone came to visit me at all, let alone a classmate from so long ago," she explained gently. Megu examined him more closely. His rose-shaped ring which seemed to be glowing stood out. "That's a pretty ring. Are you engaged?" He chuckled nervously.

"No, nothing like that… What kind of woman would want to marry someone like me?" he rhetorically asked. Megu shrugged, her eyes becoming just a little brighter. "It's just a coincidence that I'm wearing it on my ring finger…"

"Oh. Well, you seem nice to me."

"Eh?"

"You'd have to have a big heart to come and visit someone you thought died years ago, whom you barely knew as a child," she nonchalantly replied. Tsugumi looked at her with wide eyes. "Although if I was dead, things would be much better for both of us."

Laplace's Demon slid out of the window pane. Things were going well, if a little chaotically.

---

In the middle of the night, while Jun and the other dolls were all fast asleep, Suiseiseki slowly opened her case. She hadn't been able to sleep well at all in the past week. After all, her twin sister, Souseiseki was…

The brunette doll remembered what Shinku had said to her. '_It's true… I should have known that Shinku would have realized it. Souseiseki and I have always been together; we've even shared a master most of the time. We have always been awake together. I thought I could forget those painful feelings if I did things like torment chibi-Ichigo and watch Kun-kun. I guess it was only a matter of time though… Now I can't get that inarticulate doll and her old geezer of a master out of my head. So now… I'll go and convince her to leave him behind. And I won't take 'no' for an answer!'_

As quietly as she could, Suiseiseki tip-toed out of Jun's room and downstairs, to the storage room. As she pressed her small hand against the mirror, it began to glow a soft white. Taking a deep breath, she entered the mirror.

…

A number of blocks away, Shostakovich's 'Cello Sonata in D minor' played in a small apartment. Tsugumi was hunched over his desk, tapping the end of a pencil against the wood. He felt rejuvenated after sleeping for a day and a half. The young man ran a hand through his disheveled hair. He stared down at the book he was reading- a book on doll-making, specifically porcelain dolls. For the first time in days, he felt as though he had found something that was impossible for him. Even to create a piece like a torso, a high-quality kiln was much, much more than he could afford. '_My only choice is to find a doll-maker in town here whose work is extraordinary… Even then, with precise measurements, I don't know how to install such a piece into an existing doll. There's no way I could bring Suigintou down to the doll-maker. Perhaps this dream of mine is asking too much?'_

The sound of a latch alerted him to Suigintou's awakening. He quickly closed the book and pushed it aside. The black-clothed doll stood and stretched. "I've never heard of a human who keeps such odd hours," she yawned, covering her mouth with her small white hands. He shrugged.

"I could say the same for you. It's past midnight. Anyway, good morning." She cocked her head to the side a little. His body language was a little… odd. She couldn't place a finger on it, but…

"What are you doing over there?" she asked, floating towards the desk slowly.

"N-nothing really," he stuttered. She examined his desktop carefully. The book she had seen earlier had disappeared. She decided it probably wasn't a good idea to ask him about it just yet.

"My Medium, I have something I'd like to show you. But first, I'd like some tea. Clean yourself up, too."

"Oh? Are we going somewhere?" he asked. She slapped him lightly, not enough to hurt him.

"It's rude to question a Lady's intentions. Now, prepare some tea."

Fifteen minutes later, Suigintou set her teacup down with a subdued clatter. Tsugumi appeared from his bathroom. He had used some kind of gel to push his hair up into sharp spikes. He wore a button-up shirt which was black with dark purple vertical stripes. It remained untucked, though. His blue jeans remained the same. "You clean up nicely," she noted with a bit of laughter. He looked at her with uncertainty.

"I think I need a hair cut again… Oh, just a moment…" He went over to his tiny closet and dug around for a bit, finally pulling out a pair of black shoes with no apparent way of lacing them up. "My Puma Satori CVs… They're my favorite shoes; I haven't worn them since graduation," he explained sheepishly as he pulled them on. "I'm ready."

"Good." She floated over to the mirror, motioning for him to follow. As the two stood in front of the mirror, its surface began to ripple. Tsugumi gasped and started to step away, but Suigintou grabbed his finger in her small hand. She turned her head slightly, so he could see the outline of her face. "Remember this: you made a promise to protect my Rosa Mystica. In return I will protect you." He swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded.

Suigintou looked forward again. "You're a good boy, Tsugumi." She floated forward and entered the mirror dragging her Medium along with her. He tried to ignore the burning heat he felt emanating from his ring. He began to feel weightless…

.-.-.

Before he realized what was going on, the laws of the physical world were present once again. He fell to the ground, barely having time to get his legs under his body before landing. "W-… where are we?" he asked out of curiosity. He looked around. It looked like some kind of old European city which had been heavily bombed. Many of the stone buildings were crumbling, their windows broken. The sky, however, was a bright and cloudless blue. "What is this place?" Suigintou silently flew forward, causing Tsugumi to go after her.

"This is an n-Field- mine, actually. All of the Rozen Maiden have their own n-Fields, which reflect their innermost self. It's kind of the setting that our Rosa Mystica create, similar to your human soul," she explained calmly.

"Why did you bring me here?" he asked as he walked behind her.

"I don't think you should be worried about that," she quickly replied, obviously aggravated. "You should consider yourself lucky. No human has ever been invited to my n-Field before, although Shinku did drag her own dim-witted servant here."

"You fought with her here? Just recently?"

"Yes, 620 hours ago," she quietly responded. "Somehow her Medium was able to upset the advantage I have here…" Tsugumi realized that she had been beaten, on her own turf no less.

"It won't happen again." The doll twirled around and faced him, surprise written on her face. "Not here or in any other n-Field." She returned his confident smile. "It's my duty to protect your Rosa Mystica."

Suigintou turned and faced forward again to hide the blush that was growing on her cheeks. The pair remained silent as they reached the church which she considered to be her home base. Tsugumi was confused by the dissonant feeling he got from the church as he walked down its aisle. The stained glass windows were so stunning, the red velvet carpeting so plush… And yet the pews were cracked and broken. Spider webs had taken over the church's corners. The huge wooden cross behind the altar was snapped in half, its top lying on the floor.

He noticed Suigintou had sat down on a wooden chair on the altar, which used the same red velvet as the carpeting. The normal-sized chair seemed huge compared to her small body. He slowly approached her. "Come up here. This is why we came." Tsugumi nodded and stood beside her chair. The doll crossed her legs and summoned the mirror fragments. Her Medium watched in awe as the pieces began to shine brightly, eventually becoming images of what could only be the real world.

"These are…?" he asked, his voice trailing off in amazement. She nodded.

"These are the other Rozen Maiden. I can watch them from this place and keep track of all their actions as they happen." Two of the fragments merged together to form a larger image of two closed cases. "Oh my, Shinku and Hina-ichigo seem to have a much stricter sleep-schedule than you." Another fragment showed a sleeping Sakurada Jun. "Her Medium…" Suigintou growled. Two more of the images began to melt together, which interested the first Sister. "Ohoho! This is motivating!"

"What is?" her Medium asked, leaning in a little closer. The image showed a boyish-looking doll, asleep but not in her case. A mirror in the same room lit up. "Is another doll going to come through the mirror?" Sure enough, a doll with very long, brown hair and a green dress stepped through.

"Suiseiseki and Souseiseki, the twin gardeners. Their artificial spirits have the ability to allow entry to anyone's dream world. When used together, they can even lock a human inside its dream. However, this usually causes that human to… break," she explained.

"Why are they together there? It looks like they are upset," Tsugumi noted.

"I thought it was unusual for those two to be separated," Suigintou sneered. "However, this could be an advantage…" Suigintou bit her thumb as she began to think. "Tsugumi, that tomboy Souseiseki is the doll connected to the old watchmaker you mentioned."

---

In Suiseiseki's n-Field, the two twin dolls stood in a forest inhabited by beautiful butterflies. "Why do you insist on staying with that old man?" Suiseiseki asked her younger sister. "Why not come back with me to Jun's place desu?" Souseiseki suddenly looked up, meeting her sister's gaze.

"Jun? Your new master?" she asked plainly. Suiseiseki's eyes widened for just a moment before she looked away.

"Well, that is… We haven't made a Contract yet, but…"

"But?"

"You see… He's a hopeless runt of a human… If I'm not around him, I'll worry and worry…" she slowly explained, blushing just a bit.

"He seems like a good person. You like him?"

"E-e-eh! No, no, it's nothing like that!" she countered. "It's just that he's so much better than that old man! Besides, Shinku and Hina-ichigo are there too!" Souseiseki smiled as she remembered the old times they had all spent together.

"Shinku and Hina-ichigo… Just like old times."

"Yes, that's right!" Suiseiseki replied, becoming excited. Her plan was beginning to work! "So, come back with me and we'll pledge to Jun together. After that-"

"Oh my, such a touching argument."

"W-w-w-what was that?" Suiseiseki trembled, jumping to hide behind her sister. Souseiseki looked around cautiously. Abruptly, Suigintou and a tall human stepped out of the forest and into the clearing. "Eeee! S-s-s-suigintou! How dare you come into my field without asking desu!"

"Suigintou, what is the meaning of this?" challenged Souseiseki as she took up a defensive position.

"Honestly, you seemed too nostalgic when speaking of Shinku and Hina-ichigo, I thought I would stop by as well," she explained, laughing in a rather condescending way.

"Who is that human?" Souseiseki asked her sister in a hushed tone.

"It's her Medium!" Suiseiseki whispered, remembering the time he visited Jun's house. "Even if this is _my_ Field, we don't stand a chance against her when he's around!" she whined. Souseiseki's eyes narrowed.

"Lempicka," she called. Her artificial spirit appeared and summoned her shears.

"Oh, I didn't come here to fight you weak dolls," Suigintou stated before any attack could take place. Souseiseki lowered her weapon slowly. "Suiseiseki was offering to take you back to make a Contract with Shinku's Medium. Am I correct?"

"That's none of your business desu!" Suiseiseki yelled from over her sister's shoulder. Suigintou shrugged.

"In any case I thought I should give you the same offer. Tsugumi here is far more competent than that little boy and the old man. So, Souseiseki, what will you choose?" The doll in question narrowed her eyes at her opponent. The look on Suigintou's face… She was hiding something.

"I would never team up with a fanatical doll like you," she responded venomously. Suigintou shrugged, her malicious smile growing.

"Ahaha! Honestly, that's exactly what I expected you to say, Souseiseki. In that case I'll accept your Lempicka. If you don't agree…" A flurry of feathers suddenly flew past Souseiseki. She was surprised that none of them hit her… Then the sound of her sister's screaming clued her in to Suigintou's real plan. "I'll just have to force Suiseiseki to give me her Jade Dream instead!" Souseiseki turned and found her sister pinned to a tree by black feathers.

"There's no way I'll let that happen!" Souseiseki yelled as she rushed at Suigintou. The black-clothed doll flapped her wings, blowing Souseiseki off her feet and to the ground. The hundreds of black feathers which flew past her were nearly impossible to dodge. She tried to block them with her shears, but they were quickly pulled out of her hands from the feather's force. Souseiseki cried out in pain as she feather's pierced through her clothes.

"Oh my, they are so much sharper now that I have a Medium," Suigintou giggled.

"Souseiseki!" Suiseiseki cried in desperation. Her sister couldn't respond; she was almost overcome by the feathers. "Suigintou, **stop**! You can have … I'll give you Jade Dream!"

The barrage of feathers immediately halted. Suigintou stared at the hanging doll, releasing her at last. "That's a good girl. Now…" Souseiseki struggled to stand.

"Suiseiseki, don't!" she urged, but her sister simply shook her head. Suiseiseki cupped her hands.

"Jade Dream," she summoned. Her bright green artificial spirit appeared. In the background Tsugumi quickly wiped away a tear which had unexpectedly rolled down his cheek. Suiseiseki silently told her spirit, '_I'm releasing you now. You belong to Suigintou.'_ The spirit complied and flew over to the aggressor, who laughed once more.

"Good girl… And now…" Jade Dream twirled around in the air, changing into the Gardener's Water Can. Suigintou sprinkled some water onto the ground. A large vine sprung forth and swallowed up Souseiseki's already beaten body. "Souseiseki, you will give me your Lempicka! Either that, or I'll be happy to turn you into junk and take your Rosa Mystica!"

Suiseiseki's eyes widened. "Suigintou, you can't!"

"Fine. I'll do as you say."

"Eh!" Suiseiseki rushed over to the vine that held her sister. "You can't! If she has both of them- "

"Be quiet!" Souseiseki yelled, causing her older twin to shrink back. The shears which had fallen to the ground transformed back to Lempicka and slowly made its way over to Suigintou.

"Ahahaha! It was nice doing business with you! You're both so kind," she happily said. The doll turned and said something to her Medium before the two of them disappeared back into the forest. Suiseiseki whipped her head around and stared at her sister as the vine disappeared.

"Souseiseki, what were you doing! If she… What is she uses Jade Dream and Lempicka to enter humans' dreams?" she cried, grabbing her sister's shoulders. Souseiseki was too worn out to fight back. Her head fell limply.

"She most definitely will. In fact she will probably target Jun, if he is Shinku's Medium. But… You weren't watching Suigintou's Medium, were you?"

"Well, no… I was concerned about other things desu!"

"He cried." Suiseiseki suddenly released her sister, who fell to the ground. She was, in a word, shocked.

"That cold-hearted, conniving, scary human was…?" Her younger sister nodded as she pulled herself up.

"As Suigintou attacked us, I saw him wiping tears away. I can't explain why," she stated plainly.

"But why? What kind of human is he?"

"I have to go… The master is calling me…" Souseiseki said with a painful grunt.

"What? You're still saying that? You can't even help that old woman anymore without Lempicka desu!" she pointed out.

"That may be true… but I can't just abandon my master."

End of Fourth Thorn.

A/N: I had to reuse a little part from the anime. Sorry. Check out Puma Satori CVs, they're pretty cool shoes.


	5. Sturm von Gefühlen

Rozen Maiden: Schwarze Feder des Schicksals  
typed by the.Merines  
started: 08.10.06 17:21  
finished: 08.19.06 15:41  
published: 08.19.06  
disclaimed: Rozen Maiden, its scenario and characters belong to Peach-Pit, not me. Oh no.

_Fifth Thorn: _Sturm von Gefühlen

A loud clap of thunder caused Suiseiseki to shudder a little. She'd always hated thunderstorms, and even though she was surrounded by her sisters she still felt afraid. It was embarrassing but there were far more important matters at hand. She sat between her twin sister and Hina-ichigo on Jun's red couch. Shinku was at the kitchen table, sipping her tea as usual. Nori was away for a lacrosse match at another school. Jun had remained up in his room all day, refusing to be social at all.

It was a tense atmosphere. Both Souseiseki and Suiseiseki had suffered humiliating defeats at the hand of Suigintou. The casualties had been their artificial spirits, Lempicka and Jade Dream. As a repeat episode of "Detective Kun-kun" played on the television, none of the dolls spoke a word. Hina was confused by this fact but had enough common sense to follow suit and keep quiet. She concentrated on the show, tightly hugging the plush Kun-kun she had borrowed from Shinku. Neither Suiseiseki nor Souseiseki paid the show much attention; their thoughts were in other places.

Shinku sighed quietly. Hina's black tea, though better than Nori's, still had much room for improvement. '_Suigintou… Just what has that child been planning all this time? And where does her Medium fit in? Souseiseki and Suiseiseki both said that she didn't seem to draw any power from him. They were just surprised…'_ She was inwardly saddened that Suigintou had stooped so low as to steal her sisters' artificial spirits. Of course she would not have done such a thing for no reason. Soon, she would enter someone's dream for her own personal gain.

Who that person or doll would be- that was the question on everyone's mind. Except Jun's, that is. The reason for his isolation was unknown to everyone except Shinku, and she wasn't about to reveal something so insignificant.

All of a sudden, the power went out in the Sakurada's neighborhood. All of the lights in the house went out in an instant, the TV going blank. Hina-ichigo screamed out in fright. Suiseiseki did as well, but hers was cut short when she realized what was happening. Souseiseki continued to stare forward, not focusing on anything in particular. Shinku jumped down from her chair and approached the couch.

"Goodness, Hina-ichigo, be silent!" she demanded. "It's a simple power outage."

"B-b-b-but it's so dark na no! I'm scared, Shinku!" The only time the dolls could see each other was during the brief periods of light provided by lightning. "I can't see anything!" Suiseiseki, in order to relieve her own fears, slowly leaned over and put her mouth to Hina's ear.

"Boo desu!" Hina jumped over a meter into the air and came down on her stomach.

"That's mean, Suiseiseki!" came the angry reply after Hina had caught her breath.

"Now is not the time to be playing games. Both of you will be quiet this instant!" Shinku exclaimed, obviously frustrated. "All we can do is wait for the power to be restored. Yelling won't make that come any more quickly."

"Hey, are all of you OK down there?" Jun asked from upstairs.

"Jun, come down here at once," replied Shinku in her usual demanding way. Jun silently complied. Since he'd lived in this house for all his life, getting down the staircase in complete darkness was easy. Well, it should have been. Somehow, a sudden clap of thunder distracted him. Incidentally, the doorbell rang just after the cacophony of thunder died away. Because of his state of mind from being alone in his room all day, combined with the distraction he felt from the strong thunder, Jun's brain momentarily lapsed from walking down the stairs… to walking on a flat surface.

Three steps from the bottom, Jun fell forward and landed on his face on the floor. "Jun? Jun!" the dolls cried.

"I'm OK… Geez, who would be coming here during such a bad thunder storm?" he growled as he stood. He opened the door just a crack, but the force of the wind shoved it all the way open to reveal a tall young man. "Ohba-san?" Jun asked, absolutely confused.

Surely enough, Tsugumi stood at his doorstep, umbrella in hand but still quite wet. His face was pale, and his eyes had an odd quality to them that Jun couldn't quite identify. "I'm sorry for the intrusion, Jun-kun," he stated emotionlessly. Jun continued staring at him for a long moment before realizing that the windswept rain was getting him wet as well.

"Oh! Um, it's no problem. Come in."

"Thank you." He stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

"You should be more careful. Carrying an umbrella during a lightning storm is dangerous," Jun cautioned, not mentioning the fact that no sane person should be walking around outside in such a storm anyway.

"Hm," the older boy replied as he removed his shoes. Jun was slowly sobering from the stupor he'd been stuck in.

'_Hopefully those dolls realize what's going on… Who knows if this is part of their plan? Suigintou could sweep in at any time and take advantage of the situation. Best to keep my guard up,'_ Jun surmised.

"Before I say anything else, I should mention that I'm not here for the Alice Game," Tsugumi coldly stated, as if reading Jun's mind. "The power's out all over this side of the city." He pulled two flashlights out of his jacket and handed one to Jun, who readily accepted it. He turned it on and quickly turned the beam of light on the living room while Tsugumi concentrated on taking off his shoes and jacket. The dolls were still sitting in the same spots. He waved his hand at them, trying to tell them to move out of sight. Hina-ichigo waved back while Suiseiseki smiled sheepishly and shrugged. There really wasn't anywhere for them to go, short of running through the darkness to the storage room and entering an n-Field.

However, the light emitted then would be clearly visible down the hallway. "Suigintou sends her… apologies," Tsugumi stated with dry sarcasm.

"Y-you should apologize, you sneaky human desu!" Suiseiseki yelled, her brain working before she realized that he was being sarcastic. Her sister and Hina reached over and covered her mouth, but it was too late. Shinku shook her head in disgust. "What? He should apologize to us! He and that damned Suigintou stole our artificial spirits desu!" exclaimed the muffled doll.

"She didn't _steal_ them; you gave them up. Although it took a bit of coercion…" retorted Tsugumi as he closed in on the dolls' position. Suiseiseki let out an 'eek!' and jumped behind Souseiseki. His silhouette, which appeared only when lightning struck, was enough to scare Hina-ichigo as well, but all she could do was shiver where she sat, too scared to move any more. However, Tsugumi turned slightly and walked behind the couch, approaching Shinku instead. "You… You must be Shinku," he said frigidly. Shinku turned and stood on the chair, although she was still a good bit shorter than Tsugumi.

"I am Shinku, fifth doll of the Rozen Maiden," she replied in her usual calm tone. The two stared at each other in the darkness for an uncomfortably long moment, as if trying to judge each other. Finally, Tsugumi held the remaining flashlight out to her. She slowly reached out and took it in her small hands. She pushed the switch to the 'on' position, but nothing happened.

"Oh, I guess I forgot the batteries." He reached into his left pocket, producing two D batteries. He held out his left hand towards Shinku, palm up. She reached out to grab them, but a flash of lightning revealed his hand's complete contents. Tsugumi allowed a small grin to creep onto his face, the rose on his ring beginning to glow bright purple. In his hand were the two necessary batteries, but along with them was a single black feather. Jun stepped up behind him.

"Hey, what do you mean by this? Ohba-san?" he asked angrily.

"What I mean to say, is this message from Suigintou. Shinku," he said, his tone perfectly emulating the way Suigintou spoke when referring to her younger sister, "the easiest thing for you to do is give up your Rosa Mystica." Once more, Shinku was shocked by the way he acted just like Suigintou when he wanted to, but kept this emotion hidden. This was a dangerous game.

"As a Medium, you should know that no Rozen Maiden would ever willingly give away her Rosa Mystica," Shinku responded with a touch of venom.

"Of course- that's what I expected you to say. Well, in that case, I'll take my leave of you. You may keep the flashlights as gifts," he said as he returned to the front door. The dolls were all too shocked by the human's strange actions to speak as Tsugumi put on his shoes and jacket. "Sleep well, everyone!" he said in a sickeningly sweet voice before leaving.

"That jerk! What kind of mind games is he trying to play?" Jun exclaimed, obviously exasperated. "And you dolls! Why didn't you try and hide at all? What if he'd just been distracting you while Suigintou came in through the mirror?"

"Who is the fool who let him into the house desu?" Suiseiseki shot back. "Chibi-human, it's your fault! I-if anything had happened… Oh, if only you weren't such a good-for-nothing runt of a human! Even that Ohba-san is a better Medium than you desu!" Hina-ichigo suddenly became confused.

"Ohba-san… obaasan?" she wondered out loud, seeing images of the tall, scary human boy next to an old woman. Suiseiseki reached above Hina's head and waved her hand furiously, destroying the thought cloud.

"Don't daydream at a critical time like this desu!" she shrieked with frustration. Souseiseki remained silent on the couch, as if nothing had happened at all. Shinku jumped down from the chair and joined her sisters at the couch.

"In any case, this is a warning to us all," she explained. "He did not have any purpose of coming her except to confirm that Suigintou will use Lempicka and Jade Dream. In fact, since that child was not with him, he may have come of his own accord."

"You mean… He wanted to give us that warning… as kind of a helping hand?" Jun asked, confused by that realization. Shinku nodded. "Why would he do such a thing?"

…

Later that night, after the storm ended and the power had been restored, Souseiseki pulled Shinku aside. "Shinku… that boy… Tsugumi. What do you think of him?" Souseiseki asked, serious as usual.

"He's truly an unusual human. The way he acts so perfectly similar to Suigintou is almost frightening," Shinku responded slowly. "His actions otherwise are questionable as well." Souseiseki nodded.

"I'm sure that he was wiping away tears as Suigintou fought against us. And now he's come to confirm what we feared. What are his goals? Why is he doing these kinds of things?" she wondered.

"Maybe… just a little… He's like Jun."

"Like Jun-kun?" Souseiseki questioned. "That heartless human is?"

"Jun… He somehow has the power to draw us to him… Holie couldn't have been more correct by choosing him as my Medium. Even though he's coarse and uncivilized, all of the Rozen Maiden who live at this house become bound to him. In the same way, he is becoming bound to us. On both sides, the feelings are intrinsic- we somehow feel them automatically. I believe… although it may be one-sided, Tsugumi feels the same way. It's unfortunate that he made a Contract with Suigintou before any of us, but this is the situation," Shinku explained.

Somehow her words made sense to Souseiseki. "Shinku… Is it possible that… Jun and Tsugumi… The legend of the Maestro… Could one of them be a Maestro?" The blond doll sighed heavily.

"I can't be sure. It's too early to be thinking of such a powerful force. Surely, the appearance of a Maestro would be a sign from Father that he wishes for the Alice Game to begin." Souseiseki looked away from her companion, her eyes narrowing. "But don't get to excited. There are still two more dolls which would have to awaken before the Alice Game can start."

"I guess you're right."

---

Tsugumi sat alone in his apartment. It had been three days since he had been introduced to the world of the n-Field, three days since he had returned to this very place alone. Where Suigintou was, or why she hadn't returned with him, were mysteries. '_Perhaps she was just too disgusted by the way I acted back then… She has every right to be. I can provide her with power whether I am by her side or not. But Jun and Shinku… Their connection, their bond, although not obvious, is so strong.'_

He paid no attention to the distant thunder. It had been raining a lot recently. His bills were beginning to pile up on his desk, covering the books he had been studying so intensely. Now it almost seemed like a waste. If he couldn't be of use to Suigintou, what was the point of all this? It was at that exact moment that he had up his mind. He wrote himself a small note, an address, and crawled into bed. He fell asleep almost immediately; after all, he hadn't slept in the past three days, either.

His mirror began to glow, revealing the vast white rose garden of Kirakishou. On the outcropping of rock she sat, wearing a smile worthy of a Hollywood star. She watched patiently with her single eye, looking at his apartment. Suigintou wasn't present, once again. Kirakishou giggled just a little as the mirror faded back to normal.

…

Tsugumi had waited patiently all day, though the time wore by incredibly slowly for him. He'd placed himself on his sister's route home from school, meaning to intercept her. He had used the same route in his youth, so it was nostalgic for him. Tomoe saw him as he sat there from quite a distance- he stuck out like a sore thumb in between all the middle-school kids. She approached him silently and took a seat next to him.

The two were quite similar, really, despite what they thought of each other. "Mother and father said you were fired from your job," Tomoe stated quietly, but not without a certain sense of boldness.

"I can't deny that," was her older brother's only response.

"I'm worried."

"About what?" Their conversations had never been too exciting, but the two had a deep understanding of each other, so not much more was ever necessary. Others may have called such a way of talk 'boring' or 'dry,' but it was simply a behavior which was passed down from their parents.

"Sakurada told me you've been causing trouble for the other Rozen Maiden."

"Not really." There was a long moment of silence as the two stared out into space. "Our parents… Do they ask anything else about me?"

"They wonder why you're using a different surname, and they wonder where you're living. Most recently, they wonder how you are making a living without a job." Tsugumi sighed. All the money he had been setting aside for college- that was his only source of money, and it was disappearing. The reason he had moved was because of his parent's greed… Rather than send him to the prestigious university he had been accepted to, they took expensive vacations and embellished themselves.

"The answers are all too obvious," he said, a bit of anger creeping into his voice. "Let's forget about them for now. There's someplace I want you to accompany me to," Tsugumi added, smiling at his younger sister. "To be honest I was too embarrassed to go alone." Tomoe's eyes widened slightly. Her brother had never been afraid to do as he pleased.

"Really?" He nodded. "Let's go. You've made me curious. And… Don't worry. I won't tell mama and papa I was with you."

Only a few blocks from the middle school was their destination. Realization dawned upon Tomoe as she read the awning above the corner business.

'_Enju Doll.'_

"You were embarrassed to walk into a doll store without a girl." She giggled quietly. "How childish."

"Be quiet," he sheepishly rebutted. "What kind of college-age guy walks into a doll store alone? It would be too unsightly… In any case I heard the doll-maker here is the best in the city, maybe even the whole country. I get the impression that he's a foreigner, though." The two entered the store. Tsugumi made sure to hold the door for his sister so she had to enter first. A bell rang as the door was opened.

"Good afternoon," Tomoe called to no one in particular.

"Just a moment!" came a reply from the back room. The siblings took a look at the dolls on display. They were all the same style as the Rozen Maidens, but there was some indefinable difference. "Ah, welcome!" Tomoe opened her mouth to greet the man, but Tsugumi stepped in front of her.

"Are you Enju?" he asked quickly. The other man, who looked only a few years older than Tsugumi, looked confused. His hair was parted down the center, and a pair of small reading glasses framed his thin eyes.

"Oh, me? No; I'm Shirosaki, the shopkeeper-"

"Enju- is he here? I want to speak with him…" he trailed off as Shirosaki shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but he isn't here right now."

"Then perhaps you can help me. Is there a way…? Can Enju… Let's see, how can I put this…" Shirosaki looked on in complete confusion. "I have a doll which is very special to me, a one-of-a-kind doll. When she… There was an accident and her torso was badly damaged. I want to know if a replacement can be created without having the doll present, and if there is a way that I could fix her myself."

The shopkeeper nodded slowly as he absorbed the information. "Ah, it's nice to hear you talk like that, as if you're begging a nurse to find a doctor who can help a sick family member," the man replied, perhaps with a little too much pathos. "But I'm afraid that would be impossible. There is no way anyone besides an accomplished doll-maker could ever hope to fix such a doll. In addition if the doll is such a rare creation, then the original doll-maker may be the only one who could attempt to fix her."

The bell above the door rang once more. Tsugumi turned to find a blond man, even taller than he was. "Enju, welcome back!" happily exclaimed Shirosaki. Enju met Tsugumi's gaze coldly.

"Who are they?" he asked, as if they weren't standing right there. Tomoe stepped up this time.

"I'm sorry, but we hadn't introduced ourselves yet. I'm Kashiwaba Tomoe, and this is my brother Tsugumi. Nice to meet you," she said with a bow. Enju continued his staring contest with Tsugumi, neither of them showing any sign of backing down. Finally Enju diverted his eyes to the younger man's hands. Confirming his suspicions, the younger one was wearing black driving gloves.

'_So… this one is a Medium. This is sooner than expected.'_ Enju silently walked past the pair and into the shop's back room. Tsugumi, now absolutely fuming inside, decided it was better to leave than to try and confront the doll-maker.

"Tsugumi," his sister called as he walked out the door.

"Oh no, that didn't go very well," Shirosaki said with a sigh. "Well, Kashiwaba-san, don't let it bother you too much. Your brother seems to have a very strong personality, just like this shop's owner."

---

In the orange evening sunlight, Tsugumi lie on his bed. '_So, despite all the research I did… I can't fix her. There's nothing I can do for her, nothing I can do to ease the pain associated with that imperfection. Damnit… If only I could have, maybe she… If she wasn't so caught up in becoming the perfect girl, maybe she would go easier on the others. But I'm powerless. I can't do a thing. What a useless Medium I am.'_

He rolled over onto his side and looked at her case. It was probably empty. He felt suddenly drained and pulled the covers over his head. He was asleep before he had any more time to lament the issue.

His mirror began to warp, once more revealing Kirakishou. This time, however, her target was not Suigintou. It was her Medium. She giggled playfully as rose vines grew out from under Tsugumi's bed, slowly entangling his unmoving body. '_This is… like catching fish in a barrel… or something like that,'_ Kirakishou thought with glee.

…

Meanwhile, at Enju Doll, the blond doll-maker was wearing a happy smile. Before him stood his own creation, Barasuishou. "Father… when?" He looked down at her lavender dress, her white hair, her eyepatch… They were all beautiful to him.

"Very soon, Barasuishou. The pieces are already in motion." His mind wandered to the boy who had appeared in his shop earlier in the day. His eyes… He had the same eyes as _that man_. The eyes that saw past reality to the limitless unknowns, while at the same time disregarding all which was considered impossible. '_Rozen… You had that same blank and stupid-looking gaze. You loved those dolls more than anything else… You spent every moment of your life pouring everything you had into their creation._

'_And though they were so special to you, you took me on as an apprentice. You wanted to create Alice but failed. As your apprentice it's my responsibility to clean up the mess you left. You abandoned the dolls you loved so much, hoping that one day they would just become Alice through some kind of brutal game. I'll create Alice as you wanted, but she will be made from my own doll. Alice will be mine. I'll finally be able to call myself the greatest doll-maker ever. The legendary Rozen Maiden… what a joke. Barasuishou will make them look like the toys they are.'_

Although he had forgotten through the vast rifts of time, Barasuishou was actually a stolen design. Rozen always created the doll's body and its Rosa Mystica as separate entities, not wishing one to contaminate the other before he was ready for the doll to live. Just a day before the final Maiden was to be connected to its Rosa Mystica, Enju stole her body and its designs.

Over the years the doll's body degraded. By the time Enju had created and matured his own kind of Rosa Mystica, the doll's body needed to be replaced. So using the methods taught to him by Rozen, he created Barasuishou and destroyed the aging design. Little did he know, Rozen had already begun to fuse the two parts together. The Rosa Mystica, as time passed, grew into the true seventh doll. She was a doll without a body and existed only in the magical realm of the n-Fields and dream worlds.

Barasuishou and Kirakishou: two dolls who shared a design. One doll was completely devoted to her Father, who was not Rozen but an imposter. The other, if she was a human, would have been considered a complete psychopath. The many years spent alone in her lonely world, only able to watch her sisters live full lives, had driven her mad. Only recently had Laplace's Demon began to visit her. It was a signal, a signal from Father.

The Alice Game would soon begin.

End of Fifth Thorn.

As for Hina's daydream comparing Tsugumi to an old woman, Ohba is his last name and –san is an honorable suffix. Obaasan means an old or unfamiliar woman. They are very close in pronunciation. The story is becoming quite complicated now. I'm surprised at how many levels of conflict I've been able to shove into this story. Hopefully you're all enjoying it, because I'm really enjoying writing this. Ja ne!


	6. Chess Pawns

Rozen Maiden: Schwarze Feder des Schicksals  
typed by the.Merines  
started: 08.19.06 17:15  
finished: 08.21.06 22:19  
published: 08.22.06  
disclaimed: Rozen Maiden, its scenario and characters belong to Peach-Pit, not me. Oh no.  
Preliminary Note: I'm going to assume some of Kirakishou's powers. Please bear with me. You may have already deduced this, but I'm trying to meld the anime and manga universes together, along with my own spice of course. I had to borrow a scene or two from the anime, so forgive me.

_Sixth Thorn: _Chess Pawns

Tsugumi sat down in the grass outside the building. The sprawling university campus before him was completely devoid of other students. The overcast skies let the filtered sunlight reach the ground, but just barely. It made everything appear to be almost greyscale. He picked a book out of his bookbag. 'The Legend of Rozen's Dolls.' was the title. Surely, it was not a part of a normal curriculum. He set the book down.

"I must be dreaming," Tsugumi stated to no one in particular. He had dreamed of attending this particular university many times before. He had even visited the campus after passing the acceptance exams. The young man put his hands behind his head and laid back. A gust of wind blew the pages of the open book, eventually landing on a chapter entitled 'The Lost Seventh.'

"Hey, isn't that Kashiwaba-senpai?" Tsugumi suddenly sat straight up again, but there was no one around.

"Who's there?" he called nervously, jumping to his feet. No one had called him that since…

"Yes, it must be. His nose was buried in some book again," another voice stated. The sources of the voices were standing, human-sized blocks of text. Upon further examination, they were the names of popular vacation spots. Tsugumi slowly began to remember the voices… the voices of his high school classmates.

"He's unbelievably anti-social. I heard his parents refused to pay for his tuition, even though they just spent so much on a cruise in the Mediterranean. If I were him, I'd be getting some kind of job."

"Yea, but it's his own fault. He never filled out for any scholarships, remember?"

"That moron doesn't even have any idea what he plans to do with his life. He just wanted to attend university because he was accepted. How can someone so smart be so stupid? If good grades came so effortless for me, you know I would have been doing something in the meantime to ensure my future! What an idiot, not planning ahead like that!"

"Everyone shut up!" Tsugumi yelled, clenching his hands into fists. The piles of letters all faded into the background. "What the hell is going on!" A huge piece of paper was blown in front of him by another gust of wind. He leaned forward and read it. "My acceptance letter?"

"Kashiwaba-san, we look forward to having you at our university! Your academic records and community service have been wonderful!" Tsugumi recognized the voice as the Dean of Students'.

"I told you… I don't have the money to…"

"Oh? But according to your financial reports, your parents have more than sufficient money-"

"I don't have any parents! They…" he trailed off. He buried his face in his palms.

"We put our wishes ahead of yours?" his mother's voice asked smoothly. "It's our money that we work hard for. We can use it as we please! Don't be such a stubborn, useless child! _So what_ if you got good grades? You should have gotten a part-time job, and then you would have money to attend college!"

"Shut up! All those years… you told me to get good grades…"

"And if they came so easily for you, then it shouldn't have been a problem for you to pick up a job," his father's voice added sternly. "Maybe then we would have helped in the cost of tuition."

"But… I did my best…" His parents disappeared, an image of his sister appearing next. "Tomo-nee?" He slowly stood to face her.

"Why do you cause us so much trouble? I'm glad you left the house."

"What? You are…? Tomo-nee?"

"Don't call me that. You are no longer my brother." Tsugumi's eyes widened.

"I've had enough of this!" Tsugumi realized that, although this must be a dream, how does one prompt one's self to awaken? And since when does the dreamer realize that he is in a dream?

"You are a lazy and unsightly part of my life that I want to forget. When you run out of money, you can just become a vagrant for all I care. You couldn't even open your heart to your own family. Did you expect to live your life alone? Did you really think a helpless person like you could go on without relying on anybody?"

"Is this… really how you feel?" Megu faded into sight at Tomoe's left.

"Did you get some kind of sick satisfaction by coming to visit a dying person? Your heart is what's dying!" Sakurada Jun appeared to Tomoe's left.

"You make me sick. Playing such mind games, when you really can't even control yourself," Jun spat. His doll, Shinku, then appeared.

"As a Medium you rate very poorly. In fact I wouldn't hesitate to call you worthless."

"Quiet… you don't even know me…" Suigintou appeared on Megu's right side.

"Did you really think there was any kind of connection between us? I was just _using_ you for your power, but you don't even have any to give. Did you really believe you could fix me? You're… what I would refer to as… _junk_."

"I… I am junk…?" Tsugumi unconsciously rubbed his right leg before falling into a sitting position, eventually curling up into the fetal position on the ground. His eyes slowly began to unfocus. "I'm useless… to everyone… If I'm such a burden, what's the point… of continuing…?"

On the roof of a nearby building, Kirakishou stood on the edge. A wide smile was painted across her pale face. "Soon you'll break… little human. Then onee-sama will see me… then she'll appreciate me… Ahaha… And then I'll…" The laughter which followed fell upon Tsugumi's ears, but he didn't even hear it.

In his bedroom back in the real world, the rose vines which had entangled him began growing thorns. They pressed into his body, tearing his skin, causing blood to drip down his skin and onto his bed. He was beginning to break.

…

At that exact same moment, Suigintou felt a strange sensation. She first thought of Tsugumi, but upon examination of her ring she decided that wasn't the case. It was glowing very faintly, just as it had over the past few days. It represented the bond between them, and it was weakening. '_That idiot._ _If I lose him as my Medium, nothing will change. I can go on without that power, just like before,'_ she lied to herself. In actuality the days since she had taken the Gardeners' artificial spirits had been her most difficult in as long as she could remember, though she felt no reason to delve deeper and try to rationalize such feelings.

She found the nearest window and entered her n-Field.

As soon as she did, her misgivings grew. Something was very wrong. Suigintou flew over the city which comprised her personal world, heading towards an odd light in the distance. Within a couple minutes, as the strange sensation grew, she reached a street which was overgrown with purple crystals. "What is this? The irregularity which has been bothering me…?" she asked, becoming suspicious. Could one of the two other Sisters have done this?

Out of nowhere, a huge crystal pierced towards Suigintou. Flipping through the air, she dodged it easily enough, but the second one was a little harder to avoid. "Who's there!" she yelled angrily.

"Who's there?" a bland yet breathy voice responded from the distance.

"Show yourself!"

"Show… yourself…" Suigintou's eyes narrowed. In the distance a light suddenly twinkled. A doll was revealed. The doll had white hair and a pale lavender dress which clung closely to her body and ended at her knees-high boots. Her right eye was covered by some kind of eye patch.

"Eh! You are!" Suigintou asked cautiously.

"Bara… suishou… The seventh doll of the Rozen Maiden," the unfamiliar doll responded coldly.

"Seventh?" Several spires shot out from beneath Suigintou, then another set and another. They were easily dodged; this one must have just awakened if her power was so weak… "Enough of this. Play time is over!" She rushed towards Barasuishou, but a huge crystal seemed to grow directly out of the doll and sped towards Suigintou at incredible speed.

She folded her black wings around her body, successfully blocking the attack. Next it was her turn… Countless black feathers raced towards Barasuishou, but she effortlessly created an energy field to block them all. "You certainly are a pretentious little sister," Suigintou growled. She unconsciously began to draw in more power, her Medium's power. However… there was no response.

Suigintou drew a quick breath in shock. '_He won't give me any power? There's no way the bond could be so weak… Something else is going on here.' _The feathers continued to bounce harmlessly off of Barasuishou's shield until she swept them away in a gust of her power.

"You're… so weak."

"What!" '_Tsugumi… what the hell is going on!'_

She continued to dodge the blasts of crystals as she flew towards the church- only there would she be able to see what was going on with her Medium. Unexpectedly, as she was avoiding an attack from below, a barrier of crystal sprung up from the ground, catching Suigintou off guard. One of them grazed her arm, sending her spiraling to the ground. She cried out in pain as she slammed into the ground. A blast of many smaller crystals pierced into her clothing and body before she was able to pull her wings into a protective shell.

"Pathetic." Barasuishou ceased her attack at once.

"You little…" The power inside her was decreasing at a rapid rate. There was no way she would be able to escape from this opponent, and without being able to draw more energy from her Medium... Barasuishou slowly lowered herself to the ground, mere meters in front of Suigintou. She held out a hand, summoning a crystal sword.

"I… expected more from you…" She drew the sword up. Her swing would surely be the last thing Suigintou ever saw. Barasuishou's eyes widened, however, when she discovered that she was unable to move the sword at all. She looked over her shoulder. Most unexpectedly, it was Laplace's Demon who was holding the weapon so steadfastly.

"Barasuishou, you are in danger," he said grimly, confusing the doll. A slit in the n-Field appeared under her, pulling her out of the realm before sealing itself once more. The tuxedo-wearing rabbit then turned to a shocked Suigintou. "Jade Dream and Lempicka, they are not alone in their manipulations. The reason for your bond breaking… The truth and the lie, you will see both on this day. Which is which- that will be your decision to make."

"You make as little sense as ever," Suigintou grunted as she stood. He bowed deeply and disappeared into the darkness. Suigintou gave his words little thought. She grabbed her lacey headband off the ground and flew once more towards the church.

…

At the Sakurada household, Shinku's case suddenly burst open to reveal its owner, wide-eyed and panting. The cases of Suiseiseki and Hina-ichigo subsequently opened, albeit those dolls were not so awake. "Shinku, what's going on desu?" Suiseiseki asked in an unusually quiet voice.

"So sleepy…" Hina-ichigo yawned, rubbing her eyes. "Shinku? What's wrong na no?" Shinku clasped her hands at her heart, quickly regaining control of her breathing. Just as she seemed to be ready to give an explanation, Jun quickly sat up from his slumber.

"Tsugumi-san!" he yelled, still caught half-way between being asleep and awake. Suiseiseki and Hina-ichigo were now very confused, but Shinku knew it was a validation. "Shinku, you too?" Jun asked after he caught his breath. Shinku's eyes widened for a split-second; she was surprised at how easily Jun could read her emotions these days.

"Yes. All of you must get ready. We're diving into the n-Field," Shinku stated firmly as she stood. She immediately summoned Holie before closing her case and leaving Jun's room. The two remaining dolls watched in a state of awe as Jun pulled his sweater on.

"You dolls- what are you waiting for?"

"What's going on, chibi human?" Suiseiseki asked as he rushed out of the room without even giving an answer. She frowned and put her hands on her hips. "Honestly, desu, that rude human needs to learn some manners! Well? Hina-ichigo, we should follow them. There's no telling what kind of trouble they'll get into if we're not there to check up on them."

"B-b-but… Um… They are both so nervous… Is something bad going to happen to Suigintou's Medium?" Hina-ichigo asked innocently. Suiseiseki looked back over her shoulder at the shorter doll.

"I… Maybe. But if we don't go, Shinku might be in trouble, too."

…

Back in Suigintou's n-Field, the dolls and Jun warped in as usual. Jun actually did manage to land on his feet this time, though. Shinku took off and began flying through the air, followed quickly by Jun, Hina and Suiseiseki. "This is further proof that something is very wrong," Shinku explained. "Usually Suigintou would not allow anyone to fly here except herself."

"Plus the mirror city isn't there anymore," Jun noticed. Above them was a normal, albeit cloudy, sky.

"Probably her Medium's influence. He was able to brighten her life…"

"Has something happened to that scary human?" Suiseiseki asked timidly. "Did… did Suigintou…" Suiseiseki imagined a grinning Suigintou standing above a blindfolded Tsugumi, holding a huge scythe over his head like some kind of Grim Reaper.

"No," Shinku strongly disagreed. "This sensation I've been feeling… Both of them are experiencing terror, albeit in different ways."

"Shinku, where are we headed?" Jun asked after some time.

"This field is patterned after the city where we last fought. If I know her, she's probably made herself a home at the old church," explained the leading doll. "It should be just over here."

The three dolls and their human companion landed in front of the church shortly afterward. Shinku pushed open the church's creaky doors. Jun was amazed by the stunning scenery inside, especially compared to the dark and drab look Suigintou's world had in the past. While he was gawking, Shinku's eyes quickly sought out and found Suigintou. She stood unsteadily on the altar, looking through countless shards of glass which surrounded her.

The first Sister's clothes were tattered, her headband noticeably absent. Her hands flew quickly through the air, as if she was searching through the fragments for something. Shinku realized that the fragments were glimpses into the real world and n-Fields. Suigintou didn't even realize as the group approached her.

"Suigintou, what has happened to you?" Shinku asked daringly. No response came. "Suigintou? What are you searching for?"

"I thought you might come eventually," she finally stated in a low voice, not looking away from her work. Jun realized that her wings looked much smaller than thinner than usual, perhaps a sign of battle. "The Seventh is awake." They all took the information in stride; the outcome of the battle was obvious. "I can't find him." Her voice seemed almost… desperate?

"Who?" Jun asked. "Tsugumi-san?" She didn't respond again.

"Have you checked his dream world? I thought I may have felt a dream door being opened, but it didn't feel like Jade Dream or Lempicka," Suiseiseki said, trying to be helpful even though she was standing a good deal further away from the altar than the others.

"There was some kind of interference," Suigintou stated.

"No way desu, let me see my Jade Dream! I'll get through whatever 'interference' you had desu!" Suiseiseki crossed her arms and turned around. There was no way Suigintou would ever willingly turn the artificial spirits over.

"Here." Suiseiseki slowly turned around, scared of what might be waiting for her. Suigintou had pushed aside the mirror fragments. She held out her hand toward Suiseiseki, holding Jade Dream. Her face was sullen, but she didn't seem to mind giving up what she had stolen not so long ago. "I'm doing this in a moment of weakness," she pronounced. "Too much is going on for me to worry about defeating weak dolls like you. Take your artificial spirit back and use it to open Tsugumi's dream." She turned to the others. "I won't ask you to help me, but…" She held up her left hand; her rose ring was beginning to crack.

"Something is happening to that Medium. Someone has trapped him inside his own dream. He is breaking, even now as we speak." Her voice was low and deadly. Her other hand was shaking, tightly hanging on to her headband. "You there, Suiseiseki!" Jade Dream suddenly jumped from Suigintou's hand and flew towards its old master. "Open the dream door, now!"

"Jade Dream!" she called, a small sense of relief in her voice. The spirit circled over and over until his dream door was opened. Suiseiseki suddenly groaned. "You're right… There was some kind of barrier around his dream desu. But it was easily overcome by my experience. Ohohoho!" Suigintou gave Shinku one last pained glance before jumping into the dream world.

"Shinku!" cried Sakurada.

"Right! Everyone, let's go!" One by one, they all dove into the dream door. In the back of the church, Laplace's Demon stepped out of the shadows. His hands were clasped behind his back.

'_You'll even help her after all these years of aggression? Or perhaps… the Alice Game won't be needed after all,'_ he mused before disappearing.

…

In the Victorian mansion which resided in the n-Field he'd constructed, Enju sat in his rocking chair. Frustration and anger were written all over his face as Laplace's Demon approached him. "Demon… how could this have happened?"

"From the beginning I told you there was a slight possibility," the rabbit responded.

"This is a disaster," the blond man growled. "All of my plans are in ruins. Hardly any part is salvageable. All these years have passed, Barasuishou is finally complete… I cannot wait any longer! If the true seventh doll is awake, then my Barasuishou will defeat it as well! All of that fool Rozen's creations will fall at her feet! What's one more Rosa Mystica?"

"Enju. Keep Barasuishou away from Kirakishou. If the two of them meet right now, your doll would surely be destroyed. Then the true seventh would be freed of her prison and escape to the real world." The blond man sneered. He had no intention of listening to this apparition.

For just a moment, his mind wandered to that rogue Medium who had entered his shop. There was something about that young man that bothered Enju very much. There was just something undefinably wrong with the way he presented himself, and that was on of the things Enju hated the most.

End of Sixth Thorn.


	7. Enthüllung

Rozen Maiden: Schwarze Feder des Schicksals  
typed by the.Merines  
started: 08.25.06 18:19  
finished: 09.05.06  
published: 09.07.06  
disclaimed: Rozen Maiden, its scenario and characters belong to Peach-Pit, not me. Nope.  
Chapter's theme song: Stone Sour – Made of Scars

_Seventh Thorn: _Enthüllung

Suigintou entered the dream world of her Medium and was immediately caught off-guard. Most of the time, dream doors opened in large, open spaces. This time, however, she found herself in a rather small house made of wood. It could easily have been considered a log cabin, complete with open fireplace burning in the corner. Momentarily deviating from her course of action, Suigintou picked up one of the hundreds of leather bound books which were strewn about the room.

Not surprisingly, it was about doll-making. '_He even dreams about this kind of thing… He's so stubborn.'_ As she ventured through the room's only door, though, her mouth parted slightly as she gasped. Hanging all over the next room were tens, or maybe even hundreds, of porcelain doll torsos. The room was overflowing with the creations. Suigintou crossed her arms and tried to suppress the emotional reaction inside her. As she quickly ran through the room, several of them fell off their strings and smashed into the ground. The moment the first Sister exited the door, she spread her wings and flew away from the cabin as quickly as she could. "Idiot…" was all she could manage to say.

The bitterly cold air and light snowfall immediately alerted Suigintou. His mind was becoming dormant, which meant he was very close to breaking. As the terrain switched from forest to a large group of buildings, she tried to maintain a good speed. Her inner power still hadn't recovered from fighting against Barasuishou. Just as she spotted Tsugumi on the ground in the distance, a huge rose bush sprung up from below her. Suigintou became entangled in its vines before she could even begin to react. Whether this was due to her fatigue or the immense speed of the enemy, she wasn't sure.

"Onee-sama, you're finally here!" a voice happily exclaimed. Suigintou strained to find the source of the voice, but she was unable to do so. "What's wrong? Are my vines holding on too tightly?" The pressure suddenly increased on Suigintou's body, forcing the breath out of her. "Does it hurt, onee-sama?" the voice asked playfully.

"S-show yourself!" Suigintou yelled through gritted teeth. A white doll slowly floated down from above her. Suigintou was taken aback- this doll was dressed identically to Barasuishou, except for the color. Her hair seemed to be a purer white and was held back by white roses. A white rose also covered her right eye, but as the strange doll leaned in closer to her, Suigintou couldn't see any kind of strap holding it onto her face. This white newcomer seemed to wear a constant smile, unlike the stoic Barasuishou. Still, there was something evil about her smile- something Suigintou didn't recognize but knew well. "Who are you!"

"Why, I am Kirakishou, the seventh doll of the Rozen Maiden and your youngest sister!" the white doll giggled, putting a finger under Suigintou's chin. "I thought you might come here once you realized that your Medium was here. Pitifully easy to break, these humans are. Thankfully all my planning bore fruit! Here I am, face to face with you!"

"If you're so happy to see me, why don't you let me go?" Suigintou asked, trying to play Kirakishou's nice game. The doll wagged a finger at her, putting a few feet of distance between them.

"Ah ah ah, I don't think so! Now that I've captured you, you're going to stay here forever and ever with Kirakishou," the Seventh explained with a carefree laugh.

Laplace's words suddenly came back to Suigintou. '_So, Barasuishou and Kirakishou… which one is the true Seventh and which is the fake? Better yet, how the hell am I going to get myself out of this mess?'_ She was too weak to struggle anymore against the vines. "Why do we have to stay here, in Tsugumi's dream world? Why don't you come with me to the outside and-"

"Never!" Kirakishou suddenly yelled, pulling away from her sister.

'_Oh, so she can get angry too, hm?'_ "Why not? It's cold here. Don't you want to spend our days together under the sun?"

"We'll leave when I'm ready to leave," was the cold response. "I still have some fun games to play with that human before I break him. I want you to watch, onee-sama, as I get rid of that ignorant thorn in your side."

"Why did you attack him!" Suigintou abruptly raged, finished playing with this strange Sister. "If you wanted to get to me, all you had to do was wait in my n-Field! To do things in such a roundabout way… It's unsightly of my youngest sister! You should know better than to involve a human in your game!" she chastised, causing Kirakishou to look a little guilty.

Suigintou felt the vines slowly begin to loosen as Kirakishou lowered her head. Then, out of nowhere, a blast of red rose pedals collided with the white doll. She was caught completely off-guard and was thrown to the ground far below. "Shinku!" Suigintou exclaimed in surprise. A quick slicing sound came from below her position, and the vines immediately disappeared. "Souseiseki! Suiseiseki, Hina-ichigo and the human…" All of them floated around her. "I told you not to follow me," she said, quickly regressing back to her usual self.

"Maybe you should follow your own advice desu, about humans," Suiseiseki noted as she looked down on the fallen stranger.

"I think a 'thank you' is in order," Souseiseki stated in a low tone as she floated by. "Just who is that doll down there?" Suigintou looked down. The white doll remained still where she had fallen.

"Kirakishou. She claimed to be the Seventh, but so did that Barasuishou," she explained. "They look almost identical."

"This is all quite confusing," Shinku admitted as she floated towards Suigintou. They met eye-to-eye peacefully for the first time in many years. "Oh, and you didn't say we couldn't follow you. You said 'you don't have to help.' That is, unless my memory is fading." The sweet smile on Shinku's face was something Suigintou hadn't seen in person since…

"Yes, it must be your memory," the first Sister responded. "Now, if you all don't mind, I have a Rosa Mystica to take." Suigintou spread her wings and descended towards Kirakishou.

"Um… Wasn't she so driven earlier to rescue Tsugumi-san?" a confused Jun asked. Shinku sighed loudly.

"I suppose it cannot be helped. I had hoped that she may change her ways, now that she has a Medium, but… Old habits die hard, it seems," she said with a twinge of sorrow. "Suiseiseki, take Jun and Tsugumi. All of you return to the real world immediately. Take Hina-ichigo with you as well."

"Shinku…" Jun said, voicing his concern.

"Don't worry. Suigintou still has Lempicka. It would serve her no purpose to leave us in Tsugumi's dream world, so don't worry," she replied smoothly. "We cannot be sure of this other doll's power. I want to have a look for myself."

"Perhaps we can figure out of she is the real Seventh doll of the Rozen Maiden," added Souseiseki.

As the two dolls and the Medium flew towards Tsugumi's position, Suigintou was on the ground below. She was crouched above the fallen Kirakishou, who still seemed to be very dazed. All was silent as Suigintou analyzed the situation. Something was definitely wrong; if Kirakishou truly had been beaten, her Rosa Mystica would have been expelled from her body. That wasn't the case…

Kirakishou's yellow eye snapped open, and she immediately smiled upon realizing that Suigintou was holding her down. "Ah, onee-sama! Thank goodness it was you!" Suigintou narrowed her eyes, slowly removing herself from Kirakishou's abdomen. Kirakishou grabbed onto her outstretched hand and was pulled up, her face full of absolute joy. The black-clothed doll gently brushed off her counterpart. "Onee-sama is helping me… Onee-sama loves me!"

"Yes, that's right," Suigintou responded. Her influence over this Sister was painfully obvious. Anyone who knew the doll would know that such words held no meaning, but to suppress Kirakishou's attacks… It was worth the embarrassment. '_I'm in no condition to be fighting such a worthy opponent right now. All I can do is hinder the inevitable, but if that saves Tsugumi…'_ In the corner of her eye she saw Shinku's Medium pull Tsugumi off the ground. "Now, little sister, I have an interesting little bit of information for you."

Kirakishou latched onto Suigintou's arm. "Really? Tell me! I really want to know!" Suigintou grinned maliciously.

"There is another doll claiming to be the Seventh." Kirakishou released her arm and pushed herself closer to Suigintou.

"No, that's a lie, onee-sama! That other doll is a liar!"

"Oh, really? Now little sister, I'm trusting you. If we leave here, I'll show you where this liar is. Are you interested?" Kirakishou nodded furiously.

"I am! I'll show that you can trust me. You can trust Kirakishou, not that lying other doll! And besides, that's a good reason for me to leave your pitiful human Medium alone. I'm not some kind of fool, onee-sama… If you're lying to me, though, and there isn't an imposter…" Kirakishou's face twisted into that of a true psychopath. Wide-eyed, she stared at Suigintou from a distance of no more than half a meter. In the skies above, Shinku and Souseiseki readied their attacks.

"I know," Suigintou stated firmly. "Why did you think I was so tired when you found me here? The other doll, the 'imposter', had appeared in my n-Field. Since you'd subdued my Medium, her influence over my Field was stronger than I expected."

"The imposter… hurt onee-sama?"

"No."

"So, if I… kill her… Onee-sama will be indebted to me… and… my body will…" Suigintou waited a few moments as Kirakishou's face returned to its prior sweetness. "Fine. Lead me to this imposter, and your Medium will no longer be my target. I'll… even if he's a human, I'll treat him like I treat Onee-sama…" The first doll was suspicious of her willingness to cooperate. "Those two sisters in the sky… What about them?"

"If you'd like, they can leave. However, they… will help me find the imposter for you," Suigintou responded, thinking quickly. Kirakishou shrugged. "Then it's OK."

As the four dolls filed out through Lempicka's open door, Jun, Suiseiseki and Hina-ichigo had reached Tsugumi's position. Jun looked down on this senior, unsure of his course of action. Suiseiseki, though, didn't hold back as she began slapping the young man's face rather roughly. "Your usual violent methods…" Jun said, annoyed. She stopped after a bit.

"Chibi human, he isn't waking up!" she exclaimed.

"Jun, what should we do na no?" a worried Hina-ichigo asked. "Even if he's Suigintou's Medium, he's not really a bad person. Shinku even said so…"

"I know," Jun responded. "Suiseiseki, can we just take him out of his dream without waking him up? Would he be OK in the real world?" Having previous experience in visiting one's own dream, Jun sympathized with his colleague.

"I'm not sure… I've never encountered a human who was so close to breaking before desu… To be honest I'm surprised he's still alive. The state of his dream world is so strange, as if it's being held together by his subconscious will," she quietly explained. "We don't have any time to waste desu. If he won't wake up here, we have to get him out anyway. He'll die if we don't."

Jun, through Tsugumi's unconscious thought or by the odd properties of a human dream, was able to carry Tsugumi's relatively huge body over his shoulder. As the party carried his dream body through the portal, Tsugumi's physical body faded away, melding with its missing counterpart. On the other side of Jade Dream's door was (what everyone assumed to be) Tsugumi's apartment. To Jun's mild shock, the room was relatively normal-looking. A bit sparsely decorated, with the only furniture being a bed, desk, and small table, it was a very small apartment.

'_He lives on his own though, right? He had some fight with his parents, according to Tomoe, and moved out on his own. Even so, it must be rough living alone at such an age. It would be different to have a full-time job or be a university student, but he's neither. Living alone, with no real human contact… almost the same as me,'_ Jun thought as he bent over the bed, letting gravity to the rest of the work.

"Now who's being violent desu?" Suiseiseki screeched.

"You ill-mannered doll, shut up! What if he's brain damaged or something?" She shrugged nonchalantly. "Jeez, you really are heartless… I wouldn't be able to live with that on my conscience…"

"What conscience?" Suiseiseki whispered as she rummaged through the kitchen's cabinets.

"What are you doing?" Hina asked, tugging on Suiseiseki's dress.

"Looking for some tea, now stop that before it tears desu!" Hina-ichigo pouted a little and walked towards the stricken Tsugumi. "Great, all that scary human has is green tea. Not one black tea at all!"

"Maybe Suigintou prefers green tea," Jun thought out loud.

"Hey, hey, Jun… He's Tomoe's big brother, right?" Hina-ichigo asked. Jun nodded.

"I played with him a bit when we were younger, but he was always quiet and kept his thoughts to himself. Honestly, I looked up to him," he reminisced. "I guess it's because my father was always overseas on business… Tsugumi was kind of like a big brother to me back then. He wasn't too much older, but there was a four year gap between us… I don't know, but I feel like I should stay here until he wakes up." Hina nodded in agreement.

"If we called Tomoe, maybe she could wake him up!" she exclaimed. Jun shook his head, much to her disappointment. "Why not?"

"She has enough to worry about- the end of the first term is pretty close. Besides… If damage has been done, I don't want her to see it…"

"You mean you don't want her to know it was your fault?" The voice alerted everyone. The room's mirror glowed brightly, and Suigintou stepped through soon after. "If anything is wrong with him… If I'm stuck with a broken Medium, you will be the one who pays, human," she stated, her voice dead serious.

Jun realized then just how much Suigintou cared for Tsugumi. He nodded slowly. "I know… So what happened with that other doll?"

"Where Souseiseki and Shinku!" stormed Suiseiseki before a single black feather, which whizzed mere centimeters from her face, silenced her.

"They're back at your happy home," Suiseiseki sneered. "As for little Kirakishou, we learned something interesting. I'm sure Shinku will tell you all about it. In any case you will all leave, now. Your mental contamination is what's causing Tsugumi to remain unconscious."

"Contamination?" Jun questioned. Suigintou sighed angrily.

"Tsk, are you all so thick-headed! There wasn't any contamination between these dolls and you, human, because you are very close to each other. Now, none of you are close to Tsugumi at all, correct? All of you appearing in his dream world was disruptive to the state he was in, since his dreams of you are virtually nonexistent. Are you beginning to get the idea?" she asked, exasperated.

"I think so…" Jun responded.

"So leave!" boomed Suigintou. "You have a lot of thinking to do. Little Shinku seemed very upset when she learned the truth about that doll, plus the fact that there is another doll who is the same type as us, who probably was not made by Father."

"Alright. Hina-ichigo, Suiseiseki… let's go," Jun said, giving up on the hopes he had of staying near Tsugumi. After the three of them had left and the mirror gone silent, Suigintou finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"My… They are all so unbelievably dense…" A great deal of tension was holed up inside the doll's tired body. She turned and looked at Tsugumi's unmoving body. His deep, slow breathing was the only sign of his life. His eyes, still open, stared blankly at the ceiling.

Suigintou sat down on the edge of his futon, near his legs. She tried to enjoy the peace and quiet she deserved, but her Medium's condition was too much of a distraction. '_Is this some kind of side effect of the Contract or my true feelings?'_ she pondered. '_Either way I wouldn't be surprised. What Shinku said after we lost Kirakishou may be true… The appearance of not one, but two Maestros… Surely, that is a sign from Father that he wishes for the Alice Game to begin, right? Why am I even questioning such a thing? Father's will is for his creations, Rozen Maiden, to play through the Alice Game until there is but one doll left, with all the pieces of the true Rosa Mystica together at last. He only wishes for Alice to be born; he will only see Alice.'_

"So I must become Alice, so Father will see me," she whispered.

"I… couldn't… sorry…" The voice of her Medium snapped Suigintou's mind back to reality.

"Tsugumi! Are you awake?" His eyes still stared ahead in the same way. He was stuck somewhere between his dream and reality.

"You're right… I… Tsugumi… I'm junk…" Her eyes widened as he muttered the word she hated so much. "I… I don't have any goals… Because I'm comfortable as I am now, I don't feel the need to move forward… I'm not as strong as I pretend to be…" He coughed suddenly, blood spattering over his face. Slowly, small open wounds were beginning to open all over his body. Suigintou realized that his sheets were already stained with blood.

"Tsugumi, what happened? Why are you…?"

"I'm a human…I'm weak… Maybe it would be better for you… if I wasn't around," he continued, oblivious to the fact that he was bleeding out quite a bit of blood. "Yes, if I die, things would be easier for everyone…"

"You idiot, don't mutter such things in your sleep," she whispered, the faintest hints of tears forming in her eyes.

"But I'm not asleep… or am I…?"

"Just don't die!" she yelled as her throat began to tighten. Tsugumi bolted into a sitting position; those words had triggered some buried memory from his past. His vision was completely white and his head felt dizzy, which slowly faded back to normal as a decent amount of blood was pumped into his brain. He looked down on his arms and the many small punctures draining blood. "T-… Tsugumi?" He slowly gazed up at Suigintou and felt a twinge of sadness in the back of his mind. Her face, usually so cold and confident, looked like it was on the verge of tears.

"Did… I… What happened? I… There was another doll in the mirror… then…" Slowly regaining all of his brain functions, Tsugumi realized that Suigintou's dress was dirtied and torn. Her headband was also missing. Without the decoration, she somehow looked more human to him. "I'm sorry… It seems like I wasn't there when you needed me…"

"Don't say such idiotic things… What if I was worried!" The doll leaned forwards towards him, placing a hand on his right leg for support. Something was odd, though. Her Medium's eyes quickly widened as she put more pressure on the leg. She felt no heat from the appendage, and it seemed completely hard. Human tissue was supposed to be warm and soft, right?

He averted his eyes from her questioning gaze, a regretful smile on his pained face. "So… now you see… You thought I was being metaphorical when I said that I'm junk…" he whispered. His hands began to shake uncontrollably. "I wasn't. I… I'm a broken human already. That's why… I'm not suitable to be your Medium, with this incomplete body…"

Suigintou blinked in confusion as he reached down towards his feet. Only then did she realize that the lower part of his left pant-leg had not one blood stain on it. He pulled the pant-leg up to his knee, revealing a skin-colored prosthetic. "See? I'd tried my best to keep this hidden, not only from you but from everyone…"

"I… I don't understand…"

"Your Father left you unfinished, correct?" he asked, having regained most of his mental faculties. "My parents… I was in an accident when I was young and broke this leg. Something happened when they reset the bone, and it became infected. I ended up having to get it amputated… My parents sued the hospital and won a great deal of money from the legal proceedings. But instead of getting one of the robotic limbs which were offered to them, they chose to get me a simple plastic prosthetic leg, despite the fact that they had made so much money because of my misfortune. During my junior high years I refused to use it; I was confined to a wheelchair. When I finally did use the leg to make my parents happy, I was ridiculed by my classmates because I had trouble walking. I was able to master the thing eventually, but that stigma stayed with me all through secondary school. I couldn't play any sports or participate in P.E.

"I try so hard to mask it, but in the end you found out anyway. I guess in a way, we're similar. Both of us suffered needlessly because of our creators, because of some imperfection. Don't you think so?" Suigintou's face produced a small, sad smile.

"Not particularly."

…

In a bright field of grass, Kirakishou shielded her eyes from the warm sun. She stared off into the distance, towards the mansion across the field. '_Even though Onee-sama abandoned me, her information was correct. The imposter… and her Master- both of them will become food for my roses. What is the saying… Pushing up roses?'_ The white doll smiled maliciously, slowly floating towards her counterpart.

In that same mansion, Barasuishou stood next to her Father. As he did in his free time, he was making dolls. Barasuishou felt a glimmer of jealousy. Perhaps she would have taken action if she only understood that emotion. All she really understood was happiness- her Father's happiness. Laplace's Demon suddenly stepped into the small room. "Sorry to bother you, but you have company."

Moments later the trio stood on a rather large balcony. Enju stared over the rolling meadow in horror. "No, that can't be! How… How did she find this field? Demon!" he stormed, assuming that the rabbit had double-crossed him. The abstract being held up a hand.

"Not I. Kirakishou was led part-way here by the first Rozen Maiden and found the rest of the way herself. It isn't unheard of- all of these types of dolls can sense each other's presence. Rozen's final creation would no doubt be the best at such an ability," he explained.

"Damnit!" Enju stared down at Barasuishou's blank face. Was she ready to fight the doll she'd been designed from? '_Of course… She's more than a copy. If she beats that cursed doll, it will simply be another proof that I am greater than that fool Rozen!'_ "Barasuishou, intercept and destroy that doll. She is your enemy- take her Rosa Mystica at all costs!"

The doll nodded. "Yes, Father."

End of Seventh Thorn.

Enthüllung means exposure.


End file.
